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THE
LIFE
OF
TOLSTOY
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THE
of Tolstoy
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BY
PAUL BIRUKOFF
TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN
With Rembrandt Photogravure Frontispiece
and 16 Black-and- White Plates
GASSELL AND COMPANY, LIMITED,
London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne
1911
33^
Si 3
78127ft „
*
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
PUBLISHERS' NOTE
Among the late Count Tolstoy's intimate friends
it is a matter for regret that, in the English language,
there is no reliable biography of the great Russian
teacher. In their opinion all existing works are
marred by the entirely wrong standpoint from
*
which the authors regard, and try to expound, the
important facts of Tolstoy's life and the tenets of
his philosophy.
M. Paul Birukofl was one of Tolstoy's closest
friends, and Tolstoy himself actually collaborated
with him in the present work, and selected per-
sonally the letters and other documents from
which extracts have been quoted. With re-
markable knowledge of his great compatriot's
private life, M. Birukoff has also brought to
his task an understanding of Tolstoy's ideals and
a peculiar gift for sober, unbiased criticism.
For this English edition M. Birukoff, with the
approval of the executors, has written a prefatory
note and a short account of Tolstoy's latter days.
*
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PREFACE
*
The newspapers of November 12, 1910, com-
municated the fact that Leo Tolstoy had defi-
nitely left his home at Yasnaya Polyana. From
that moment the whole civilised world, with intense
interest, began to follow all the movements of
the " Grand Old Man." Not only had he left
Yasnaya Polyana, but he had decided to isolate
himself from the world. This act, unexpected by
the public but long anticipated by intimate
friends, revealed again the
of Tolstoy,
and conquered even the hearts of the most in-
different sceptics, till then smiling superciliously at
S
his
ii
eccentricities.
55
Whatever may have been the determining
private factor of his departure, the chief cause was
the contradiction between his conception of life,
growing more and more definite and distinct, and
the mode of life which he was obliged to follow at
Thus his departure was the act of a man
home.
energetically and sincerely true to his words
which many people were doubting him to be.
was owing to this fact that his action produced
It
Till
PREFACE
so magical a change in public opinion, especially
among the numerous people who, though admir-
ing Tolstoy, never took him quite seriously, think-
ing that he would be unable himself to carry out
the message he preached to others.
The
events following
his
leaving Yasnaya
Polyana, and his illness at Astapovo, only increased
the deep public interest. His death came as
the inevitable epilogue of an act for the continua-
tion of which his strength was not sufficient.
It was a majestic conclusion to a great life, which
had been one incessant struggle for truth, reason,
and love.
This short biographical sketch is an attempt to
give the reader a simple enumeration of the chief
events of Tolstoy's wonderful life, and an indication
of the inner, spiritual development of his great soul.
P. BIRUKOFF.
15
St. Petersburg, ~q April, 1911
.
CONTENTS
I.
CHAPTER
1. Tolstoy's Forbears
2. Childhood, Boyhood and Youth
3. Military Service
4. Literary, Educational and Social Activity
5. The Death op his Brother Nicolas
6. Tolstoy's Educational Work .
PAGE
3
11
26
39
50
57
II.
7. The Early Days op Married Lipe
8. The Anna Karenin Period
9. The Crisis
10. "What then must we do ? "
11. Popular Literature .
»
III.
69
80
88
95
102
12. The Spread op Tolstoy's Influence
13. Further Literary and Social Activities
14. The Years
Famine
109
118
124
X
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
15. The Dukhobor Movement
16. Excommunication and Illness
17. The Jubilee op 1908
18. Tolstoy's Flight and Death
List op Tolstoy's Works .
Index ....
PAGB
131
136
142
146
157
165
'
■ .
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Leo Tolstoy (from the painting by Repin) Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
Tolstoy's House at Yasnaya Polyana ... 8
Tolstoy as a Student 20
Tolstoy in the Unieorm of an Artillery Officer . 20
The Kazan University in Tolstoy's Student Days 20
Tolstoy's House at Moscow 28
Tolstoy in 1876 34
Tolstoy at Work at Yasnaya Polyana . . 42
Tolstoy in 1895 52
Tolstoy on the Road from Moscow to Yasnaya
Polyana 60
Countess Tolstoy 70
The Family Circle at Yasnaya Polyana . . 82
The Count and Countess in the Crimea . . 90
The Last Portrait of Tolstoy — Taken Six Weeks
before his death 98
Xll
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PAGE
The Last Illness. Tolstoy in his Bedroom, talk-
-
ing to Dr. Makovitski
The House in which Tolstoy Died
The Death-Mask of Tolstoy
Tolstoy's Tomb
Facsimile op Tolstoy's Will
104
110
126
140
152
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THE
LIFE OF TOLSTOY
CHAPTER
tolstoy's forbears
Fifteen versts to the south of Tula, on the old
main road to Kieff, lies the village Yasnaya
Polyana. Close to it, but separated by a hollow
and a pond, is picturesquely situated the old
Volkonsky manor house, which came into the
Tolstoy family through the marriage of the Prin-
cess Marie Volkonsky to Nicolas the son of Count
Eliah Tolstoy.
This Princess Marie Volkonsky and Count
■
Nicolas Tolstoy were the parents of Leo Tolstoy,
who was born on August 28, 1828, at Yasnaya
Polyana, where he spent the greater part of his
life, thus in Leo Nicolaievitch Tolstoy the blood
of two famous families was united — that of the
princely family of Volkonsky and that of the
Counts Tolstoy.
The origin of the Tolstoy family is not definitely
3
4
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
known. Some historians believe that the founder
was a German. Others suppose that he was a
Lithuanian, and still others trace his descent
from a Tartar Khan. The first Count was Peter
Tolstoy, a distinguished statesman, an able poli-
tician, and a grand seigneur. A dark stain on his
memory remains, however, on account of his active
participation in the assassination of the Tsare-
vitch Alexis, the son of Peter the Great. He was
appointed Chief of the Secret Service by Peter,
and generally enjoyed the close confidence of the
Emperor and, later, of the Empress Catherine L,
on the day of whose coronation he was created a
Count. But when Peter II., the son of the assas-
sinated Alexis, came to the throne, Count Peter
Tolstoy lost his position. He was deprived of his
title and, at the age of eighty-two, deported to the
Solovetsky Monastery on the White Sea, where he
*
-
died shortly after. The title was restored to the
Tolstoy family in the reign of the Empress Eliza-
beth, the daughter of Peter the Great.
The grandfather of Leo Tolstoy, Count Eliah,
was, as we know from his grandson's testimony,
a simple-minded man — kind, soft-hearted, gay,
and not only generous, but somewhat of a spend-
thrift. Dinners, theatrical representations, balls,
card-playing, and parties were constantly taking
TOLSTOY'S FORBEARS 5
place at his country-seat ; but this mode of life
ended in the large property of his wife becoming
so heavily mortgaged that the pair had nothing
to live on, and Count Eliah was obliged to solicit
the post of governor of the Kazan province, which
he obtained. His wife, the grandmother of Leo
Tolstoy, born Princess Pelagie Gorchakoff, had
received only a superficial education, but never-
theless she spoke French better than Russian.
*
She was generally a much-spoilt woman.
The ancestors on Tolstoy's mother's side, the
Princes Volkonsky, trace their origin to Rurik.
At the beginning of the fourteenth century
Prince John, of the thirteenth generation from
Rurik, received the fief of Volkonsky, situated on
the River Volkonka, in the present province of
Kaluga and Tula, and from him the family of
Volkonsky is descended. Leo Tolstoy's maternal
grandfather, Prince Nicolas Volkonsky, after an
eventful career in the service of the State, re-
signed, married Princess Catherine Trubetskoy,
and settled in Yasnaya Polyana, inherited from
his father. In his memoirs Tolstoy says of
him :
" Princess Catherine died early and left him
an only daughter, Marie. With this much-loved
daughter and her French companion, my grand-
6
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
father lived till his death in 1821. My grand-
father was considered a very severe landlord, but
never heard any stories of cruelty or punish-
ment, so usual at that time. I think these existed,
but the house servants and peasants, though
they freely criticised my father, when
tioned them about
my
ques-
grandfather appeared
so deeply impressed by his imposing personality
and his intelligence that I heard nothing but
praise of his intellect, his management of the
estate, his care of the peasants, and especially of
the house servants.
' ' Evidently he was a man of extremely re -
fined tastes. All the buildings he constructed are
not only solid and comfortable, but exceedingly
handsome. The same may be said of the park
laid out by him in front of the house. It seems
that he was also very fond of music, as he kept
a small but good orchestra entirely for his own
and my mother's pleasure.* During his morn-
■
ing walks in the park, this private band used to
play for him. He hated hunting, bat was a
great lover of flowers and exotic plants."
orchestra of serfs. Unti
bic families used to send
middle
their serfs to Moscow and St.
Petersburg to learn arts and crafts. Returning often as
accomplished artisans and even artists, they nevertheless had
am
to take their places as serfs. — Translator.
cc
TOLSTOY'S FORBEARS 7
Shortly after the death of her father, Princess
Marie married Count Nicolas Tolstoy. About
his parents we read in Leo Tolstoy's personal
reminiscences :
My father was of an average height, well
built, of a vivacious, sanguine temperament ; he
had a pleasant face and always sad eyes. Though
not an expert, he occupied himself during his
whole life with the management of his estate.
However, he possessed one remarkable quality
for that period. Not only was he not cruel, but
even rather lenient, so that during his lifetime
never heard of corporal punishment being
administered on his estate."
The character of the relations between Leo
Tolstoy and his father may be gathered from the
following description :
remember him sitting, with his pipe, on
the leather-covered sofa in his study, where we
used to go to bid him good-night or to play.
He petted us, and sometimes, to our great
delight, allowed us to crawl behind his back on
the sofa whilst he continued to read or to talk
to the steward or to my godfather, S. Yazy-
koff, who often was staying with us. I remem-
-
ber him coming down to us children and draw-
ing pictures which appeared to us the highest
8 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
perfection of art. On another occasion he made
me recite Pushkin's poems, c To the Sea,' and
' To Napoleon,' which I liked very much and
had learned by heart. Evidently he was/ struck
by the pathos of my recitation, and, listening
until the end, exchanged a significant look with
Yazykoff. I understood that he saw something
good in my recitation, and I was very happy.
Nicolas Tolstoy, at the age of sixteen, had
entered the army, and took part in the campaigns
of 1813 and 1814. Having been sent somewhere
in Germany as a courier, he was taken prisoner by
■
the French and was not liberated until 1815, when
the Kussian army entered Paris. The war over,
he retired from military service. Shortly after,
his father, Leo Tolstoy's grandfather, died, and
Nicolas was left with a ruined estate and a spoilt
mother, who was accustomed to luxury and of
extravagant habits. His relatives arranged his
marriage with the rich Princess Marie Volkonsky.
Princess Marie was a remarkable woman in
every respect. Leo was only eighteen months old
when she died, so that he had no recollection o
her, but from what his aunts and other inti-
mates told him, he created a very tender, loving,
and beautiful image of his mother. In his
memoirs he gives some of her characteristics :
u
TOLSTOY'S FORBEARS 9
By a strange coincidence not a single portrait
of her exists, so that I cannot represent her
to myself as a real, physical being. Partly, I am
pleased with this, because in my imagination
exists only her moral personality; and all that
know about her was beautiful, and I think that
was not because the people who told me of her
wished to say something kind, but because there
really was great goodness in her.
" My mother was not handsome, but very well
educated for her day. Besides Russian, which she
wrote grammatically — an exception in her time
she knew French, English, German, and Italian,
and she must have had an artistic disposition.
" She played the piano well, and her friends
told me that she had a great talent for telling,
and even improvising, stories. But the most pre-
cious trait in her character was her self-control,
although by nature very excitable. Her maid
used to tell me : ' Sometimes she grew red all
over, even cried, but never used rough expres-
sions.' She did not know them. My mother
spent her childhood partly in Moscow, partly in
the country with her father, an intelligent, proud,
and gifted man. Her life at home with her father
was, as I can tell from letters and from what I heard,
very happy and pleasant. I was told that my
10
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
mother loved me very much and used to call me
mon <petit Benjamin? She appeared to me
such
a pure, moral being, that often in the middle period
of my life, when I was seized by doubts, I prayed
to her soul for assistance, and that prayer always
helped me."
Such
is
the
spiritual image
of
Tolstoy's
mother. His father also died early, when Leo
was only nine years old, and the children—
—four
brothers and one sister — were left in the care of
an aunt.
-
CHAPTER II
/
CHILDHOOD, BOYHOOD, AND YOUTH
Much about Tolstoy's childhood is to be found in
the fragmentary memoirs he wrote for various
editions of his works. His novel, " Childhood,
Boyhood, and Youth," cannot be considered a
true picture of his own early days, as in it reality
is blended with imagination.
His recollections went very far back. He
faintly remembers how he was swaddled, and
bathed in a tub.
"It is a strange and awful thought," he says
in his " First Recollections," " that from my birth
to the age of three, during which time I was
suckled, I began to crawl, to walk, and to speak ;
yet in spite of all my efforts I cannot find
anything to remember except the two facts of
swaddling and bathing. When did my existence
commence ? When did I begin to live ? And why
should it give me pleasure to represent myself at
the beginning of life, and dread seizes me, as it
does many others, at the thought of re-entering a
ii
i2 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
non-existence of which there will be no remem-
brance expressible in words ? . . . From a five-
year-old child to my present self is only a step ;
from a new-born infant to a five-year-old child the
distance is enormous ; from an embryo to a new-
born it is immeasurable ; but between non-exist-
ence and the embryonic state the distance is not
only immeasurable but also inconceivable."
In Leo Tolstoy's first clear recollections he saw
himself playing with his nurse, Yeremeevna, and
the German male nurse, Theodore Eessel, described
in " Childhood " under the name of Carl Mauer.
Further, there was Tatiana Yergolsky, a distant
relative of the family, but called by them " Auntie, '
and to Tolstoy the dearest person in the world.
According to his own words, after his father and
mother, she had the greatest influence on his life.
She was a gentle, loving woman, but at the
same time of a strong, decisive character. To Leo
Tolstoy she was a second mother. With the
exception of a few years which he spent in Kazan
and in the Caucasus, they passed their lives to-
gether under the same roof of Yasnaya Polyana,
where she died in 1875. Tolstoy describes her
beneficent power over him in the following words :
" Aunt Tatiana had the greatest influence on
my life. It was she who taught me while yet in
CHILDHOOD, BOYHOOD, YOUTH 13
my childhood the moral joy of love. Not by
words, but by her whole being she imbued me
with love. I saw, I felt, how happy she was in
y>
loving, and I understood the joy of love. That
was the first lesson. The second is that she taught
me the beauty of a quiet, lonely life.
Another person who had a strong and good
influence on his childhood was his elder brother,
■
Nicolas. In the following words Tolstoy speaks
of this elder brother and the childish games he
was in the habit of inventing for his younger
brothers :
" Nicolas was six years older than I. He must
have been between ten and eleven years, and
between four and five, when he was leading
us to 'Fanfaron Hill.' I do not know how
happened, but we children used to address
him with c you.' * He was a remarkable boy
and, later, a remarkable man. Turgenef quite
correctly observed that he only lacked the imper-
fections necessary for the making of an author.
He did not possess the principal and necessary
defect — vanity ; he was not at all interested in
what people thought of him. But the qualities
of an author which he did possess were a refined,
Russian, as in French, in familiar language " thou
used, — Translator.
/
14
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
artistic instinct, an exceedingly delicate sense of
proportion, a good-natured, gay humour, excep-
tional and inexhaustible imagination, and high
moral conceptions ; and all this without any con-
ceit.
he could tell humorous tales and ghost stories
He had such an imagination, that for hours
in the style of Mrs. Radcliffe, with so much earnest
ness and such an air of reality that one forgot
it was fiction.
" When I was five years old, and my brothers
■
Dimitri and Sergius six and seven, Nicolas an-
nounced to us that he possessed the secret which,
known, would make everybody happy. There
would be no illness, no trouble, nobody would
feel anger against another, and people would begin
to love each other and live in ' Ants' Brother-
hood.' (Probably he meant Moravian Brother-
hood * about which he had read or heard
but
in
our children's minds it was * Ants' Brotherhood.')
I remember that the word ' ants ' especially pleased
us, reminding us of the ants in their hills. We
even invented a game of ' Ants' Brotherhood.'
We crept under chairs, placed boxes around them,
covered up all chinks with handkerchiefs, and sat
in the darkness pressed against each other.
remember that I used then to have a particular
* The Russian for " Ant " is muravei. — Translator.
GHILDHOOD, BOYHOOD, YOUTH 15
feeling of love and tenderness, and I liked the
play very much.
" The secret of the ' Ants 5 Brotherhood ' had
1
been disclosed to us ; but the great secret — how
to banish all unhappiness from life, all disputes
and anger, and to make people happy for ever
this secret, as he told us, he had written on a
green stick, and the green stick was buried near
the road along the hollow by the old wood. As
my body must find somewhere a resting-place,
beg that I may be buried on that spot in memory
of my brother Nicolas.
" Besides this stick there was somewhere a
' Fanf aron Hill, ' to which he might lead us if we
could fulfil certain conditions. These conditions
were : First, to stand in a corner and not to
think of a white bear; (I remember how I stood
in the corner, and tried hard not to think of
that white bear, but without success; (second,
to walk along a straight line without stumbling;
and third — which was easy — during a whole
year not to see a hare, whether dead, alive,
or roasted. At the end of all to swear not to
disclose these secrets to anyone.
" The ideal of the ant brethren clinging
lovingly together, not under two chairs covered
■
by handkerchiefs, but under the wide, blue vault
i6
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
of heaven and embracing all mankind,
has
re-
mained.
As
believed then in the existence of a
green stick on which was written the secret which
■
would do away with all evil in humanity and give
great happiness, so I believe now that there exists
such a truth ; this will be divulged to mankind
and all promises will be fulfilled."
Leo Tolstoy speaks also of his other brothers :
" With Dimitri I was comrade, Nicolas
respected, but Sergius I adored, imitated, loved,
and
wished
to
resemble.
worshipped
his
handsome exterior, his singing (he was always
singing), his drawing, his gaiety, but especially,
strange to say, his frank egoism
always used
to be self-conscious, and always felt and guessed,
rightly or wrongly, what others thought and felt
towards me; and that always spoilt the pleasure
of
my
life.
so
For
That is probably why in others
much liked the very opposite — frank egoism,
that reason I particularly loved Sergius. The word
' love ' is not correct ; I loved Nicolas, but Sergius
worshipped as something strange and foreign to
my nature. Such a human life appeared to me
beautiful, but quite incomprehensible and mysteri-
ous, and was therefore especially attractive."
The brother Dimitri, in his youth, was very
religious and unselfish; his self-sacrifice bordered
CHILDHOOD, BOYHOOD, YOUTH 17
on asceticism, which undoubtedly had its influ-
ence on Leo.
It is necessary to point out yet one other
influence bearing on his early childhood which
Tolstoy himself recognises. His family observed
all the traditions and customs of the Greek Ortho-
dox Church. One of these customs was the
hospitality extended to all sorts of pilgrims — men
as well as women, to monks and nuns, and to
Yurodivy. The latter is a strange manifestation
of piety, but has undoubtedly its historical
meaning. It reminds one somewhat of Eastern
dervishes, but is quite characteristic of Russian
popular life, and it left a deep impression on
Tolstoy in his early childhood.
On this subject we read in his memoirs :
Yurodivy Gregory is a fiction. Many of them
(c
passed through our house, and I was taught to
look upon them with great respect, for which
am deeply thankful to my elders. Even if hypo-
crites were amongst them, or if in their lives there
were periods of weakness and insincerity, never-
theless the aim of their lives, though practically
absurd, was so high that I rejoice that from my
very childhood I unconsciously learnt to appre-
ciate the loftiness of their purpose. They carried
out the saying of Marcus Aurelius : * There is
c
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\
18
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
nothing higher than to bear contempt for your
good life.' The temptation to glorify oneself is
so pernicious and unavoidable, and so inter-
mingled with all good acts, that one cannot help
feeling sympathy for those who not only try to
evade praise, but actually provoke contempt.
Such a Yurodivy was my sister's godmother, Maria
Gerasimovna, the simpleton Evdokimushka, and
some others."
All these influences created the peculiar, charm-
ing, poetic-spiritual atmosphere of Leo Tolstoy's
early childhood, and made it possible for him to
write in such enthusiastic terms on the memories
of that time : " Happy, happy past years of child-
hood ! How could I fail to love and cherish their
memory ! Their remembrance refreshes, lifts up
my soul, and is the source of my greatest delight."
The children grew up and required increased
attention. For the sake of the more serious
studies of the elder brother, Nicolas, the whole
family removed to Moscow.
Just at that time three deaths occurred, one
_
following the other : first, Leo Tolstoy's father,
r
eighteen months
later
the
grandmother,
and
finally the aunt and guardian of the children
Baroness Osten-Saken.
The
guardianship
passed to another aunt, Pelagie Yushkofi.
then
She
CHILDHOOD, BOYHOOD, YOUTH 19
was living at Kazan and brought all the Tolstoy
children there, for whom a new life opened. This
happened in 1841. Leo was thirteen years old,
and certain definite traits began to appear in
his character. " Boyhood " gives some auto-
biographical material. Vanity was one of those
character traits of Leo Tolstoy against which
he had to fight hard, and which probably more
than once troubled his peace of mind. In his
childhood this manifested itself in a rough, primi-
tive, naive form. He was particular about his
appearance, and was miserable when he saw in
the mirror that he was not handsome. His shy-
ness, the opposition of vanity, also caused him
much suffering. He early developed a disposition
to reason and to analyse, certain definite sceptical
conceptions being the result.
This is what the hero of " Boyhood " says :
" No other philosophic system ever carried me
so completely away as scepticism, which at one
time brought me to a state bordering on madness.
I imagined that nobody and nothing existed in the
whole world save myself — that objects were not
objects, but images appearing only when I paid
attention to them, and the moment I ceased to
think of them those images immediately dis-
appeared. In a word, I agreed with Schelling's
20
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
conviction that no objects exist, but
my rela-
tion to them. There were moments when, under
the influence of this fixed idea, I had reached such
f>
a degree of absurdity that I sometimes turned
abruptly to the other side in the hope of catching
a glimpse of the void.
Developing irregularly, but rapidly, Leo Tol-
stoy reached adolescence and entered the Univer-
sity of Kazan. His three elder brothers were
already there. He first chose the faculty of
Eastern Languages, but not passing his examina-
tion at the end of the first year, he went over to
that of Law. Here things went a little better,
but nevertheless, towards the close of the second
*
year, his zeal had considerably cooled. His studies
were carried on irregularly. His ardent, passionate
and independent nature could not adapt itself to
the routine of the instruction given at that time.
On the other hand, the social life of his guar-
dian, Yushkoff, who occupied a prominent position
in the highest society circles of Kazan, attracted
him to worldly pleasures. Balls, theatres, visits,
etc., filled his winter hours, effectually hindering
his studies. Besides, being a young man inclined
to independent intellectual work, once absorbed
in some subject he neglected every other. All this
certainly did not tend towards success in his
s
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■
■
-
-
I
gft
@
ST:*
3
p
i
Tolstoy in the uniform of
an artillery officer.
The Kazan University, in Tolstoy's student days.
r
-
* -
CHILDHOOD, BOYHOOD, YOUTH 21
studies. Often he missed lectures which he dis-
liked, and once even was put in the University
gaol. At repetitions and examinations he received
bad marks. But a sympathetic subject once
found, he gave himself up entirely to its study,
thoroughly thinking it over. Such a subject usually
aroused his creative power, and some literary work,
of which the manuscripts still exist, was the result
such as, for instance, an essay comparing Mon-
tesquieu's " De P Esprit des Lois " with Catherine's
" Instructions " (Nakaz). This was a university
thesis chosen by the noted professor of the Kazan
University, Meyer, one of the few who had an
influence on him.
At that time Leo Tolstoy was already writing
a diary, and attempting to describe his observa-
tions on his surroundings and the exposition of
his philosophic ideas. All these writings are imbued
with high moral sentiments. In March, 1847, for
instance, he wrote as follows :
have changed much, but I have not yet
reached the degree of perfection (in my studies)
which I want to attain. I do not carry out what
I decide to do : what I do. I do not well : I am not
training my memory. For that purpose I write
down a few rules, which, it seems to me, will greatly
help if I keep to them :
22
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
<C
1. What you have decided to do, do in spite
of everything.
i<
<<
2. Whatever you do, do it well.
3. Never consult a book for what
forgotten, but try to remember it.
you
have
<t
4. Force always your brains to act to their
utmost capacity.
(C
a
5. Eead and think aloud.
6. Do not hesitate to tell people if they hinder
a
you. At first give them a hint ; if they do not
understand (that they hinder you), apologise and
tell them so."
Further on he says:
Society is a part of the universe. Eeason
must be brought into harmony with the universe
with the whole — so that by studying its laws one
may become independent of society, as a part
of it.
>>
Here is his definition of the philosophy of
that time :
a
Man has desires ; otherwise said,
he
is
active. Towards what is his activity directed ?
By what means can this activity be made free ?
This is the aim of philosophy in its true sense.
In other words, philosophy is the science of life."
In his novel, " Youth," Tolstoy places in the
mouth of his hero words which undoubtedly re-
1
CHILDHOOD, BOYHOOD, YOUTH 23
fleeted his own youthful state of mind. These
thoughts are expressed in a fine lyrical form :
" The moon rose higher and higher, growing
brighter and brighter in the firmament, the
dazzling glitter of the pond, by degrees increasing
like a sound, became clearer and clearer ; the
shadows grew darker and darker, the light more
and more transparent ; and, contemplating and
listening to all this, something whispered to me
that ' she,' with bare arms and passionate embrace,
was yet far from complete happiness, and my
love for her was not yet perfect felicity. The
more I gazed at the high, full moon, true beauty
and goodness appeared to me higher and higher,
purer and purer, nearer and nearer to Him, the
source of all beauty and goodness ; and the tears
of an unsatisfied, but agitating, rapture rose in
my eyes
11 And still I was alone, and it appeared to me
that mysterious, grand Nature, the alluring, bril-
liant disc of the moon, resting as if immovable
on an undefined point in the pale blue sky, yet at
the same time shining everywhere and pervading
the whole immeasurable space — and I, a worth-
less worm, already corrupted by petty and miser-
able human passions, but possessing a boundless
power of loving — it seemed to me at those moments
24
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
as
Nature and the moon and
we all were
one.
5)
Dissatisfied with university studies, Tolstoy,
taking advantage of the first opportunity that
presented itself — the completion of his brother
Nicolas' university career — threw up his own studies
and went with him to Yasnaya Polyana.
There he did not remain long. The cruel
conditions surrounding serfdom, which Tolstoy
already felt deeply in his soul, did not permit
him to show his sincere sympathy. He was not
in circumstances to become a philanthropist for
slaves. He described such an unsuccessful attempt
in a novelette, entitled, " A Morning of a Land-
owner." Then he went to St. Petersburg, one may
say, to seek happiness. This was the stormiest and
the most passionate period of his life. At one
moment he intended to travel abroad, at another
prepared himself for the university examination,
then again proposed to enter on a military career.
He played at cards, made debts, was attracted
by gipsy singers, and generally was leading an
irregular life. And all this was interrupted by
gloomy, but very beneficent, moments of con-
sciousness of his moral degradation.
In his diary of that time we find the following
lines :
CHILDHOOD, BOYHOOD, YOUTH 25
am living like a beast, though not entirely-
depraved ; my studies are nearly all abandoned,
and spiritually I am very low."
A part of that period Tolstoy spent in Moscow,
but there also his life was no better.
r
During these stormy, worldly pleasures — gamb-
ling, attacks of sensuality, passion for hunting
suddenly a period of religious humility akin to
asceticism set in. And in this dark background
shone, like glittering sparks, the first attempts at
artistic creation.
An end came to this changeable, dangerous
period of his life upon his unexpected journey to
the Caucasus.
1
CHAPTER III
MILITARY SERVICE
Tolstoy's elder brother, Nicolas, having finished
his
university studies, entered
the
military
service and joined the artillery in the Caucasus.
In April, 1851, just when the turbulent period in
Leo Tolstoy's life had reached its greatest height
and threatened to ruin irremediably his moral life,
already blossoming with promise — just at that
moment his brother Nicolas arrived on leave from
the Caucasus. He saw at once the danger of the
situation, and persuaded Leo to return with him
to the Caucasus. It was not difficult to persuade
Leo ; he was consumed by passions, and seized
his brother's proposal as a last means of salvation.
That same spring they started for the south.
Both young men liked to be rather original, and
they did not follow the usual route from Moscow
straight to Voronesh, but first they went east,
to Kazan, where they spent a few days with their
guardian Yushkoff. Here Leo Tolstoy fell in
love with a young girl, Zenaide Molostoff, and in
26
MILITARY SERVICE 27
the happiest state of mind he started with his
brother from Kazan to Saratoff in their own
coach. At the latter place they embarked, with
their carriage, on a large boat and, sometimes sail-
ing, sometimes rowing, they arrived at Astrakhan.
Thence by coach to Kizliar — the place where
Nicolas Tolstoy was quartered. This was the
journey that was afterwards so picturesquely
described by Tolstoy in his novel, " The Cossacks."
Very soon the battery in which Nicolas Tol-
stoy was serving was transferred to the fortified
camp, Stary-Yurt, this detachment being destined
to protect from Circassian raids the newly-erected
sanatorium at the hot, strong, mineral springs.
The camp was situated at the foot of the moun-
tain, beside the springs, and on the slopes of the
mountain the houses of the Circassian village
Stary-Yurt were picturesquely spread out. In a
letter to his aunt Tatiana, Leo Tolstoy describes
this beautiful spot in the mountains :
" This is a large mountain of piled-up rocks.
Some of these in their fall have formed grottos;
some are still hanging high in the air. In many
places streams of hot water are rushing down
noisily. The white steam from this boiling water
envelops and obscures, in the morning especially,
the upper part of the rocks. The water is so hot
.
/
28
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
that in three minutes one can boil eggs in it quite
In the ravine, on the torrent, three mills,
hard.
one above the other, are built in a very curious,
but attractive way. The whole day Tartar women
are seen moving above and below the mills,
washing their clothes. I must tell you that
they wash with their feet. There is always great
activity, like the bustle in an ant-hill. The women
mostly are handsome and well-built. The dress
of Oriental women, however poor, is always grace-
.... Picturesque groups of women, the wild
ful
beauty of nature — all this makes a delightful scene.
stand for hours contemplating the land-
97
Often
scape.
The greater part of his three years' stay in the
Caucasus Leo Tolstoy spent at Stary-Yurt. The
beauty of the scenery of the mountainous coun-
try formed the background for the beautiful
descriptions of nature in his novels on life in the
Caucasus. We quote from " The Cossacks " the
following splendid picturing of the mountains :
(C
The morning was perfectly cloudless.
Sud-
denly he saw, at a distance of only twenty paces
as it seemed to him at first, brilliant white masses
with their delicate outlines, and the fantastic,
sharply denned contours of their summits against
the distant sky. When he realised the great dis-
03
CO
3
O
X
O
I
I
'
I
*
*
MILITARY SERVICE 29
tance between him and the mountains and the
sky, when he understood the immensity of the
mountains, when he felt their infinite beauty, he
was awed, thinking it was a vision — a dream. He
shook himself in order to come to his senses. The
mountains were still the same.
What is that ? What is that ? i he asked
the driver.
The mountains ! ' Nogai answered indiffer-
ti c
a i
ently.
also have been looking at them a long
time,' said John. ' How beautiful ! At home
they will not believe it.'
" With the quick driving of the troika on a level
road, the mountains seemed to be running along
the horizon, their rose-coloured summits shining
in the rising sun. At first the mountains simply
astonished Olenin ; then they delighted him ; but
afterwards the more and more he gazed on that
chain of snow-capped peaks rising not from above
other dark mountains, but directly from the steppe,
he began, little by little, to understand and to feel
their beauty. From that moment all that he saw,
all that he thought and felt, began to assume for
him a new character, that of the severe majesty of
the mountains. All Moscow memories, the shame *
and regrets, all the vulgar dreams about the
s
I
30
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
Caucasus, disappeared, never to return. ' Now it
has begun,' some solemn voice seemed to whisper
to him. The distant line of the Terek, and the
to
/
villages, and the people — all that
him now in a serious light. He looked up at the
sky — and remembered the mountains. He looked
upon himself and his companion,
John
again
the mountains. There two Cossacks rode on
horseback, their rifles, in cases, evenly moving
on their backs, their horses intermingling their
brown
tains.
and
gwy
legs
and
again
the moun-
. . . Beyond the Terek the smoke of
a village was rising up — and the mountains ?
. . . The sun rose and gleamed in the waters of
the Terek, appearing through the reeds — and the
mountains. . . . From the Cossack village came
a peasant cart. Women — handsome young women
moved about — but the mountains
The
5>
Abreks * are scouring the steppes, and I travel
without fear of them. I have a rifle and strength
and youth — and the mountains !
So enchanting were the mountains to Leo Tol-
stoy in his approach to Stary-Yurt.
Abreks " were voune Circassians who were waging a sacred
against
Their bravery
nised bv their enemies, and the Russian poets Pushkin
montoff
Translator.
MILITARY SERVICE 31
The great natural beauties of the Caucasus,
the wild mountaineers, the no less wild Russians,
the Cossacks of the Terek — all this new, or rather
regenerating, condition of life had such a bene-
ficial influence on Leo Tolstoy that he threw off,
like a dirty shell, all the worldly, infected atmo-
sphere of the life in Russia in which he had so
nearly perished. And this regenerating and vivi-
fying process awakened in him two great forces : .
religion and creative power. In his diary we
find the following note on his religious awakening :
scarcely slept the whole of last night ;
after having written a little in my diary, I began
to pray. I cannot express the feeling of bliss
during that period. I repeated my usual prayers,
'Our Father,' 'To the Virgin Mary,' 'To the
Trinity,' ' The gates of Mercy,' and ' Appeal to
the Guardian Angel,' and then I still remained in
prayer. If praying means to petition or to thank,
(did not pray. I longed for something high and
good, but what — I cannot convey, though I clearly
felt, what I desired. I longed to be absorbed in
the all-enfolding Being. I prayed Him to forgive
my sins — but no, I did not ask that, because I felt
that by giving me these blessed moments He
had pardoned me. I prayed, and at the same
time felt that I had nothing to ask for, that I could
\
32
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
•
not, and even did not know how to, ask.
I thanked
Him, but not with words or thoughts. In one feel-
j
ing I united all — prayer and
Every
/
sense of fear had vanished. From this general
feeling I could not distinguish faith, love, and hope.
No ; the feeling I experienced yesterday was love
of God, the highest love, uniting in itself all that
is good, rejecting all that is evil. How dreadful it
was for me to consider the trivial, vicious side of
life.
could not understand how it could
ave
attracted me. With what a pure heart
to God to accept me in his bosom,
feel my flesh,
c
prayed
did not
no, the carnal, petty part
again asserted itself, and in less than one hour
' I heard consciously the voice of sin, of vanity, and
was
of the whole empty side of life. I knew whence
this voice came, and that it had destroyed my
bliss.
a
9
struggled, but yielded.
*
fell asleep dreaming of fame, of women
but that is not my fault — I could not help it.
" Eternal bliss is impossible on earth. Suffer-
ing is necessary
Why?
?
do not know.
And
how dare
say
i
I do not know ' ? How dared
think that the ways of Providence were known?
But Providence is the origin of reason, and reason
tries to understand. Reason is losing itself in the
depth of wisdom, whilst emotion is afraid of
>
'
MILITARY SERVICE 33
y
offending Him. I thank Him for the moments of
o
bliss which showed me my insignificance and my
greatness. I want to pray, but do not know how.
I want to understand, but dare not. I resign my-
self to Thy will.
" Why have I written all this ? How flat, how
faded, and even senseless, appear my feelings when
expressed; and yet they were so exalted."
Such a moral awakening is described in " The
Cossacks." Olenin, the hero of this novel, seated
within a beautiful forest of the Caucasus, gives
himself up to thoughts on the meaning of life.
" Suddenly it was as if a new world had opened
before him. ' Happiness,' he said to himself, ' con-
sists in living for others.' And that is clear. The
longing for happiness is inborn in man. This
means that it is legitimate. Trying to satisfy
it in a selfish way, by seeking wealth, fame, com-
forts of life, and love — it may be that circum-
stances will so shape themselves as to make it
impossible to satisfy these desires. Consequently
these desires are illegitimate, but the desire for
happiness is not illegitimate. Which desires may
be satisfied regardless of circumstances ? Which ?
Love, self-sacrifice. ..."
Leo Tolstoy spent the whole summer with his
brother, taking part as a volunteer in expeditions
D
34
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
!
against the mountaineers. For the winter he
went to Tiflis to pass his examination in order to
enter the artillery service. In Tiflis he began to
write his first novel, " Childhood.
After a successful examination he returned to
55
his brother, wearing military uniform, and was
appointed as a non-commissioned officer to the
4th battery of the 20th artillery brigade.
In July he finished the novel and, signing
modestly with the initials, " L. N. T.," sent it to
the Sovremennik.* Towards the end of August
he received an answer from the editor, the poet
N. Nekrasoff — who recognised talent in the unknown
author — announcing that the novel would be pub-
lished, and it duly appeared in the September
number of the review, 1852.
This was the first step in the literary career of
Leo Tolstoy, and from that time he realised that
he had found his vocation. Shortly before the
event he wrote in his diary :
" Something within me makes me think that
am not born to be as others."
Yet at that time his inner consciousness vaguely
♦The " Contemporary "— a leading, advanced, St. Petersburg
monthly review. Amongst its contributors were the best Russian
authors of that time, such as Turgenef, Tchernichevsky, etc.
Translator.
-•f
Tolstoy in 1876.
Fro7u the Oil Painting by Kramskoy
MILITARY SERVICE 35
foretold him his future. A little later he writes
in his diary :
" The man who strives only for his own
happiness is bad ; he who aims for the good
opinions of others is weak ; he who seeks the
happiness of others is virtuous ; he whose aim is
God is great.
" Justice is the least measure of virtue, and is
obligatory for everybody. Higher is the striving
for perfection ; anything lower is vice."
It would be difficult to find a better expression
of the views of Tolstoy.
Naturally, such a man was not in his place in
the artillery of the Caucasus. Those moments of
spiritual elevation were only a few bright spots on
the grey background of the dreary camp routine.
And, indeed, he began to grow tired and weary of
military life. Then, towards the end of 1853, the
Crimean War broke [out. Just before Leo Tolstoy
had handed in his resignation, but it was delayed,
and through his influential relatives he requested
to be transferred on active service to the Russian
army on the Danube, where the fighting had begun.
His relations procured him a post on the staff of
the Commander-in-Chief of the Danube army,
Prince Gorchakoff, who was also a relative.
Before his departure from the Caucasus,
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
Tolstoy passed his examination as an officer and
obtained his promotion. With the Danube army
he took part in the storming of Silistria, and in
the retreat of the army. This retreat was
devoid of interest for him, and he petitioned to
be transferred to Sebastopol, where he arrived
in November, 1854, and was appointed to the
3rd battery of the 14th artillery brigade. Here he
was imbued at once with the intense patriotic
enthusiasm of the famous defenders of Sebastopol.
In one of his letters to his brother he wrote :
" The spirit of the army is indescribable. Even
in ancient Greece there was not so much heroism.
Korniloff, when making the round of the troops,
instead of saying, as usual, * Good health to you,
boys,' said, ' We must die, my boys. Will you ? '
And the soldiers shouted, * We will die, your
Excellency. Hurrah ! ' And this was not affecta-
tion. On the face of each man it was plain
that he meant it. Already 22,000 of them have
kept their promise."
Though Tolstoy did not take part in any impor-
tant assaults and sorties, nevertheless his life was
exposed to great danger. He was often on duty
at the most dangerous points of the fourth bas-
tion, and this danger he met always with unflinch-
*
ing courage.
MILITARY SERVICE 37
In the officers' mess he cheered up everybody
«
by his humour, and encouraged them by his gay
energy. At one of those evenings he composed
with his comrades the well-known verses beginning
as follows :
"On the fourth of the month.
9
The devil sent us out
To capture the heights ..."
This song, in which, with good-natured humour,
many commanding officers were ridiculed, was
soon learnt and sung by the soldiers when off duty.
In the midst of the horrors of death, of inces-
sant suspense for his own and others' lives, Tolstoy
continued to ponder over man's destiny, the aim
of life, and the eternal truths. In his diary we
read, under the date of March 5th, 1855 :
discussion on God and Faith brought me
to a great, a stupendous idea, to the realisation of
which I feel able to devote my life. The idea is
to create a new religion corresponding to the
development of mankind, a religion of Christ puri-
fied from dogma and mysticism, a practical religion,
not promising bliss in future, but giving happiness
on earth. I understand that this idea can be
I -
realised only by generations consciously working
for that purpose. One generation will bequeath
this idea to the next, and some day by fanaticism
38
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
/
or by reason it will be realised. To work consciously
for the union of mankind by religion — that is the
foundation of the idea which I hope will inspire
me.
j>
The whole long and active life of Tolstoy up to
his old age was but the endeavour to realise
this great idea — the religious union of mankind.
But these thoughts were like flashes in the dark
background of a dreadful tragedy : the mutual
having no senti-
extermination of men
brothers
ment of personal hatred of each other.
The tragedy of war was described by Tolstoy
with inimitable insight and the highest art in his
sketches from Sebastopol. In August, 1855, Sebas-
topol capitulated, and the remnant of the Eussian
army dispersed to their homes.
Tolstoy was sent to St. Petersburg with the
report on the last battle. He did not return to
the army, and soon after left the military service.
CHAPTER IV
LITERARY, EDUCATIONAL, AND SOCIAL ACTIVITY
On arrival at St. Petersburg, Tolstoy was at once
received by the editors and the staff of contributors
of the Sovremennik as one of themselves, for
they highly appreciated his first literary work and
his sketches from Sebastopol. But there was no
affinity between him and this circle, and even
with Turgenef, whom he respected most of all,
he often quarrelled.
By his nature Tolstoy was quite unsuited to
any collective action. Every collective initiative
found in him a hot opponent. It was as if he
feared to lose his independence or to be carried
away by a general current of opinion in a direction
which was not his own. This was the cause of all
his misunderstandings and quarrels with his literary
comrades.
Turgenef, who very much liked Tolstoy's first
works, took a great interest in him ; he even in-
vited him to live with him in St. Petersburg. Fet,
in his reminiscences, gives a comical description of
39
40 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
Turgenef, who quite changed his usual order of
life to give greater comfort to his beloved guest,
and even would speak in a subdued voice so as not
r
to awaken the sleeping Tolstoy. Soon he dis-
covered that this infant whom he had taken in
charge had long ago outgrown its swaddling-
clothes, stood on its own legs, and even began to
attack. Turgenef then regretfully, but kindly,
withdrew to a certain respectful distance, and at
that distance he continued, during his whole life,
to admire Tolstoy's talents and to criticise what
he used to call his " eccentricities."
Of all the members of the staff of the Sovremennik
Tolstoy entered into intimate friendly connections
with the poet Fet only — an intimacy which lasted
many years.
Tolstoy had resigned his commission in order
to get out of military circles, which did not suit
him. The resignation was accepted in November,
1856, and he immediately prepared for a foreign tour.
Before his departure he went to Yasnaya Polyana,
where he had some romantic entanglement. From
letters to his relatives, it is clear that Tolstoy had
for some time been preoccupied by the thought of
his lonely, unsettled life. He was longing for the
quiet harbour of family happiness, and suddenly
he began to feel a tender attachment to Valerie
LITERARY AND SOCIAL ACTIVITY 41
Arsenef, the young daughter of a neighbouring
nobleman. In order to test whether this sudden
sentiment was not a mistake, he courageously
separated himself from her and returned to St.
Petersburg, whence he corresponded with the girl,
whom he already regarded as his betrothed.
These letters form quite a novel, in which a man
desires to educate and prepare a young, inexperi-
enced girl to become a good, loving wife, mistress,
and mother. But their attachment was not strong
enough to develop at such a distance. The letters
began gradually to be cooler, and as soon as they
realised that there was no true affection between
them the correspondence ceased, and farewell
letters were exchanged expressing mutual respect
and restoring to each full liberty.
In January, 1857, Tolstoy started for Europe.
He went by mail-coach to Warsaw, and thence
by railway to Paris.*
In Paris he saw much of Turgenef, with whom
he became more intimate. There, too, he had a
*
trying experience. It seemed as if fate itself always
led him into a situation where he had to protest
against contemporary civilisation. He had gone
* At that time there existed only two lines in all Russia : that
from St. Petersburg to Moscow, with a small branch from St.
Petersburg to Tsarskoye Selo; and the route from Warsaw to
Berlin. — Translator,
42
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
to Europe in order to learn — to see how the West
was living, and whether he could not find some-
thing to adopt for his own country
when, shortly
after his arrival in Paris, he witnessed an execution
by guillotine. • *
When I saw how the head was separated from
(C
)
the body," he says in his " Confession," " and as
it dropped noisily into the basket, I understood, not
with my reason but with my whole being, that no
theories of the rationality of modern civilisation
and its institutions could justify this act ; that
all the people in the world, from the very begin-
ning of the world, by whatever theory, had found it
necessary, I knew that it was useless, that it was
evil. I knew, also, that the standard of good and
evil was not what people said or did, not progress,
but myself and my own heart.
»>
The day after the execution he wrote in his
diary :
" I got up before seven and went to see the
execution. A thick, white, and healthy neck and
chest; he kissed the New Testament, and then
death. What nonsense ! It made a strong im-
pression which has not been in vain. I am not a
political man. Morality and Art
know
9
love.
The guillotine prevented me a long time from
sleeping, and made me start often.
5>
a
a
o
as
o
CO
O
H
/
I
/
LITERARY AND SOCIAL ACTIVITY 43
In the beginning of May he left Paris for
Switzerland, where he settled at Clarens on the
Lake of Geneva. He rested here after the Paris
bustle, and was delighted with the beauty of
nature.
These are his travelling impressions :
" The 15th of May the weather was bright ; the
t
shining blue — dark blue — lake, dotted with its white
and dark spots of sails and boats, lay glittering
nearly three sides around me. Towards Geneva,
far over the lake, the hot air was vibrating and
darkening; on the other side rose abruptly the
green Savoy mountains, with little, white houses at
their foot, and the jagged rocks, one of which
resembled a giant white woman in an old-fashioned
costume. On the left, clearly outlined just above
the brownish vineyards, in the deep green of
orchards, Montreux appeared, with its graceful
church rising from the slope of the mountain.
Along the very border of the lake the houses of
Villeneuve are spread out, their metallic roofs
shining in the midday sun ; the mysterious valley
of the Rhone, with mountains rising one above
the other ; white, cold Chillon on the brink of the
water, the much- sung islet, artificial, but lying,
nevertheless, charmingly opposite Villeneuve.
" The lake rippled slightly. The sun struck ver-
44
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
tically on its azure surface ; and the outspread sails,
scattered about the lake, appeared moti
"It is wonderful ! I lived in Clarens two full
months, and every time at morning, but especially
towards evening, that I opened the shutters of my
windows, then already in the shade, looking on the
lake and on the distant mountains reflected in
the water, the beauty blinded me and acted in-
stantly on me with unexpected strength.
felt
a sudden desire to love, even myself. I regretted
the past, was hopeful for the future. Life ap-
peared joyous
>
and
wished to live long, very
long ; and the idea of death began to assume a
childish, poetic terror. Sometimes, sitting alone
in the little, shady garden, and gazing, gazing on
the lake and its shores
seemed to feel the
physical sensation as of beauty pouring through
my eyes into my soul."
Having fully enjoyed the loveliness of the Lake
of Geneva, Tolstoy set forth to see more of the
country. At first he walked through the mountains ;
afterwards he crossed the Oberland on horseback
to Lucerne, that wonderful corner of Switzerland,
establishing himself at the best hotel, the Schweizer-
hof, then crowded with tourists, mostly English.
Full of charming impressions of the Swiss
mountains and nature, he could not bear the
LITERARY AND SOCIAL ACTIVITY 45
striking contrast between the freedom of the wilds
and the artificial affectedness of the English, for
whose pleasure the beautiful shore of the Lucerne
lake had been transformed into a stone quay in
full accord with the cold nature of that race. At
the moment of Tolstoy's arrival, these people were
looking with contempt on a little, begging street
minstrel, who did not receive anything from them
for his sweet singing.
At the table d'hote Tolstoy created a sensation
by inviting this street singer to dine with him, to
the great horror of the Englishmen and the solemn
waiters. This incident is described in Tolstoy's
novelette, " Lucerne," which ends in a beautiful
hymn to the Eternal One :
" Who has weighed the internal happiness
which lies in the soul of each of these men ? There
he sits now, somewhere on a dirty threshold, gazing
on the bright, moonlit sky and joyfully singing
to the quiet, fragrant night ; there is no reproach,
no anger or regret in his soul. And who knows
what is passing in the hearts of those people behind
these rich and lofty walls ? Who knows whether
they possess as careless and serene a joy of life and
harmony with the world as lie in the heart of this
little man ? Unlimited are the mercy and wisdom
of Him who permitted and ordered the existence
*
^ •
4 6
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
of these contradictions. Only to thee, worth-
less worm, impudently, lawlessly trying to pene-
trate His laws, His intentions, only to thee they
appear as contradictions. He tenderly looks down
from His bright, immeasurable heights, and enjoys
the endless harmony in which ye all in your con-
tradictions are eternally moving. In your pride
ye thought to evade the universal law. Nay, thou,
with thy petty, vulgar contempt for the waiters,
thou also respondest to the harmonious necessity
of the eternal and endless."
From Lucerne Tolstoy returned to Russia
through Germany, and in August he reached
Yasnaya Polyana. There he intended to occupy
himself with the estate and to open a school,
but for that winter the whole family went to
Moscow.
In December of the same year Tolstoy, with
his friend, Fet, went bear-hunting on the estate
of their mutual friend Gromeka, in the Tver
province. This amusement nearly cost Tolstoy
his life. When, on one occasion, a she-bear had
been driven out of her lair and came towards
Tolstoy, he fired and missed. The bear threw
him to the ground, fell on top of him, and had
her jaws already open to seize his head, when
his friends, rushing forward, drove her away
LITERARY AND SOCIAL ACTIVITY 47
and killed her. However, she had succeeded in
biting Tolstoy, and had torn off a piece of skin.
He was bandaged on the spot, and the wound soon
healed. He described this incident in a story
called " The Wish is Stronger than Bondage,"
published in school reading-books.
During the winter in Moscow he was giving
much time to gymnastics, which at that period
began to be fashionable in Russia. These physical
exercises he continued also in Yasnaya Polyana.
Here we give a humorous description, by his
brother Nicolas, of these gymnastics :
" Leo desires to take up all, not to miss any-
thing — not even gymnastics. Now he has erected
a bar outside his window. Of course, if we put
aside prejudice, against which he is always fight-
ing, he is quite right : gymnastics do not inter-
fere with the management of the estate. But the
bailiff looks somewhat differently on the matter.
c I come to the master,' he says, ' to get orders,
and the master, in a short red jacket, swings with
one leg over the bar, head down, his face red, hair
hanging down and flying about. I wonder, must
wait for orders or look at him ! ' "
These practices did not interfere with his
management. Already at that time, in the
summer, he was working in the fields, ploughing,
4 8
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
mowing grass, giving a poetic glamour to this
work.
In the autumn he again went to Moscow, and
lived a gay
y
ity life. In all literary circles
he was welcome, and in February, 1859, he was
elected member of the Moscow Literary Society.
According to the rules of that body, a newly-
elected member had to make his inaugural speech
at a general meeting. Tolstoy duly delivered his
address, but the record of it has not been pre-
served. The subject was, ' The Superiority of
the Element of Art in Literature above all
?>
Temporary Tendencies.
The president of the society, A. Khomyakoff,
in his reply, expressed sympathy with Tolstoy's
words, but remarked that literary art does not
exclude the contemporary and the casual, quoting,
as an example, Tolstoy's own novel, " Three
Deaths," just published, in which work, as in
many others, the temporary is united with the
eternal.
" Continue with the same, if possible even
greater, success," concluded Khomyakoff, in his
reply to Tolstoy. " Your talent is not transitory
and easily exhausted ; but remember that in letters
the eternal and artistic constantly assimilate the
temporary and transient, remodelling and ennobling
LITERARY AND SOCIAL ACTIVITY
49
, and all the various aspects of human thought
are incessantly uniting in one harmonious whole."
The influence and power of Leo Tolstoy in
Russian life was constantly growing. But many
trying experiences awaited him yet before he
reached his full development.
i
i
E
i
CHAPTER
X
THE DEATH OP HIS BROTHER NICOLAS
In the beginning of 1860 Tolstoy was very much
alarmed by the failing health of his elder brother
Nicolas. The doctors suspected consumption, and
advised him to go for a cure at Soden, where he
went next summer, accompanied by his brother
Sergius. His illness caused great anxiety to many
friends, Fet and Turgenef amongst them, who
were attached to Nicolas and held him in high
esteem. Turgenef wrote :
Your news about the illness of Nicolas
Tolstoy has deeply grieved me. Is it possible that
this dear and lovable man must perish ? And
how did it happen that this illness was allowed to
develop ? Can he not overcome his indolence and
go abroad for a cure ? Was he not travelling in
the Caucasus by coach, and the devil knows in what
other ways ? Let him come to Soden ! One
meets here, at every step, consumptives. It seems
that the waters of Soden are the best cure for such
«(
illness. I am writing to you from two thousand
50
DEATH OF HIS BROTHER NICOLAS 51
versts distance, as if my word could be of any
help. . . . If he has not yet started, he never
will. . . . That is how Fate breaks all of us."
At first Soden seemed to do Nicolas good,
but later the news became less and less comfort-
ing. Then, in order to take the place of his
brother Sergius, Tolstoy went to Soden with his
married sister, Marie, and her two little daugh-
ters.
They travelled by steamer from St. Petersburg
to Stettin, and from there by Berlin to Soden. The
sister went straight to Soden, but Tolstoy stayed
i
a few days in Berlin to see the town, and attended
a few lectures of the famous professors Dubois-
Bay mond, Dreusen, and others. Afterwards he
visited Dresden and the well-known novelist
Auerbach, who was very much respected by Tol-
stoy for his sketches of popular life. But especi-
ally, wherever he got the chance, Tolstoy visited
schools. The idea to start a school of his own had
already taken deep root in his mind, and he never
missed an opportunity in Europe to study ele-
mentary education and to visit schools. But
German schools did not satisfy him. In his diary
he gives the following impression of the Saxon
schools :
was in a school. Awful. Prayer for the
52
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
King ; thrashings ; all is learnt by heart. Frightened
and unnatural children."
At the same time Tolstoy gave a good deal of
his time to the reading of philosophical, historical,
and educational works of the best known authors
of that time : Riehl, Frobel, Diesterweg, and
*
others.
*
At last he reached Soden, where he found his
beloved brother Nicolas in a very bad state of
health. They hurried to the south of France to
lengthen his life as much as possible, settling at
Hyeres, by the seaside, in that mild, beautiful
climate. But it was too late. On September
20th, 1860, Nicolas died in Leo's arms. This
death made a strong, ineffaceable impression on
Tolstoy, and gave a new direction to his thoughts.
Writing to his friend Fet on the death of his
brother, he says :
■
" He was quite right in saying that there is
nothing worse than death. Considering that death
is the end of all, life in that case appears worse
than anything. What is the use of striving and
struggling
from what was Nicolas Tolstoy
nothing remained for himself ? He did not say
that he felt the approach of death, but I know that
he watched every step of it, and that he knew
for certain what was left to him. A few moments
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I
\
DEATH OF HIS BROTHER NICOLAS 53
before the end he slumbered, and suddenly awoke
and whispered in terror, * What is that ? ' He
saw Death, and he felt himself swallowed up in the
darkness. And if he found nothing to cling to,
what shall I find ? Yet less. Certainly, neither I
nor anybody else will struggle to the last moment
as he did."
And he continues, farther on :
11 All who watched his last moments, say, ' How
wonderfully quiet and peaceful was his death ' ;
but I know how terribly painful it was to him,
as not a single one of his feelings was hidden from
me. Hundreds of times I say to myself, ' Let
the dead bury the dead,' but in some way one has
to spend one's remaining strength. You cannot
bid a stone fall up and not downwards, where
there is attraction. You cannot laugh at a worn-
out joke. You cannot eat when you are not
hungry. Is it worth while to trouble when to-
morrow may begin the agony of death with its
detestable lies and self-delusion, and when all ends
in nothingness, naught for myself. Curious thing !
* Be useful, be virtuous, happy as long as you live,'
people say to others. But usefulness, morality,
and happiness are all united in truth. The truth
found after thirty -two years of life is that the
condition of our existence is dreadful.
54
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
" * Take life as it is,' they say. ' You have put
yourself in that condition.' Well, I take life as
find it ; but when man reaches the highest degree
of development he sees that all is nonsense, fraud,
and that truth, which he nevertheless loves above
all, is terrible. When he comes to see this
thoroughly and clearly, he starts up and exclaims
with terror, like my brother : * What is that ? '
Certainly while there exists the desire to know
and speak the truth, one endeavours to do so.
This is the only thing I preserved from all moral
conceptions, and higher I cannot rise. This only
will do in future, but not in the form of your
Art is a lie, and I can no longer love a beau-
art.
tiful lie.
?>
Kecovering somewhat from this heavy blow,
Leo Tolstoy continued his foreign tour, study-
ing
the
systems of elementary education in
France, Germany, and England. In London
he made the acquaintance of Herzen,* and spent
with him a whole month in most friendly in-
timacy.
* Alexander Herzen, a brilliant political author and philosopher,
was the first Russian political refugee in London, where he started
the Russian Free Press. An intimate friend of Mazzini, Proudhon,
Kossuth, and others, he was well known also in English political
and literary circles. His influence on Russian life is unsurpassed.
Translator.
)
DEATH OF HIS BROTHER NICOLAS 55
February 19th, 1861, the day of the liberation
of the serfs, had arrived. Tolstoy hurried back
to Russia, having been appointed a " Mediator "
between the peasants and the nobility of his
province.
As a Mediator, Tolstoy took at once the
side of the peasants, defending their interests
against their former masters, who reluctantly
obeyed their monarch's will, and tried by every
means to cheat the former serfs. Naturally, by
acting thus, Tolstoy provoked quite a storm of
anger amongst the nobility. Secret denuncia-
tions were pouring into the central government,
and his position became untenable, so that in
less than a year he was obliged to tender his
resignation. With his whole heart he then de-
voted himself to the problem of elementary
education.
Just at that time, in 1861, he had the mis-
fortune to quarrel seriously with Turgenef. Their
mutual friend, Fet, in his " Memoirs," gives this
episode in detail. The quarrel broke out in his
house, when Turgenef and Tolstoy were his guests.
The insignificance of the cause — the question of
the education of Turgenef s daughter — shows clearly
that this was only the outbreak of a long-standing,
hidden, mutual disagreement. Only the noble
56
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
character of both men prevented a fatal ending to
the quarrel. A challenge was sent, but happily
with time,
however, was the breach gradually healed.*
the duel did not take place.
* Turgenef, on his death-bed in Paris, in 1883, wrote to Tolstoy
a touching letter, in which, calling him a great author, he begged
Tolstoy to continue the literary work, which at that time the
*
latter, in one of his moral crises, intended to abandon. — Translator.
i
CHAPTER VI
tolstoy's educational work
The educational activity of Tolstoy forms quite
a separate period in his life. The value of this
activity for the advancement of popular Eussian
instruction has till now not been sufficiently
l
appreciated. Teaching always attracted him. As
far back as 1849, on his return from Kazan,
he opened a little school on his estate. But during
his stay in the Caucasus and the following eventful
years the school was closed. He reopened
during the winter of 1858-59, after his first journey
in Europe ; but somehow it was not a success.
As we have seen, during his second journey in
Europe he seriously studied the subject. Now,
armed with knowledge and experience, he once
again took his school in hand, and this time he
carried out his intention, establishing a model for
the regeneration of the Eussian elementary school.
In Yasnaya Polyana he organised quite an
educational circle of young teachers, amongst
them a German, Herr Keller, whom he
57
58
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
had expressly engaged from Germany.
opened several schools, published an educational
Tolstoy
review
Yasnaya Poly
in which he expounded
his theories upon instruction
accounts of
his own work as a teacher in elementary schools,
attracted the teachers of neighbouring schools to
collaborate in his paper, and published their essays
and reports. As supplements to his review, he gave
model, popular reading-books, under the general
title
a
From Yasnaya Poly
they contained
a whole series of masterly, popular sketches from
history, geography, biography, and general litera-
ture, written by the teachers and even by the
pupils, under his supervision. The quintessence
of his theory on education Tolstoy developed in
four articles in his review. In the first of these
articles, " On Popular Instruction," he explained
that the greatest impediments to the develop-
ment of popular instruction are preconceived
theories and their arbitrary imposition on the
people without examining the people's needs or
the suitability of the theories to those needs. In
conclusion of his argument he states that the sole
educational method must be experience freed from
preconceived ideas, whilst the only guide must
be liberty, as without it no experiment of any
value can be accomplished.
I
TOLSTOY'S EDUCATIONAL WORK 59
To these free experiments Tolstoy devoted
himself in his own school at Yasnaya Polyana, as
well as in the other schools created by him, whilst
his review remained the organ of his theories.
Though the review existed only a year, it contained
a most interesting account of Tolstoy's experiences.
In the second article Tolstoy asserted that
reading and writing are not the first step, and con-
sequently not the most important step, in educa-
tion. There are many illiterate people with expe-
rience, and much useful, and even technical, know-
ledge ; whilst on the other hand there are literate
men who do not possess any of those qualities.
The schools created by the Government and the in-
tellectual classes are not meant to serve the imme-
diate needs of popular life, and not adapted to
them. The elementary schools are created for
the purpose of preparing the pupils for a secondary
school. The latter prepares the pupils for the
high school, which existed before either of the
first two. The high schools are the continuation
of the former monastic schools, serving a Church
and State purpose. Liberated now from the
Church, and in Russia simply divided into clerical
and lay schools, the high, secondary and elemen-
tary schools continue to serve the State ends, but
not the people.
/*
6o THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
Concerning the ways of teaching, Tolstoy finds
that method best which requires the least effort
from the child ; but he considers the principal
1
requirements in teaching are individual talent
and art in the teacher. Teaching is an art ; its
development and improvement have no limits,
but perfection is unattainable.
In his third article, " Education and Instruc-
tion," Tolstoy draws a sharp line between the
two. Education is more or less an enforcement
of our will on the child ; instruction leaves it com-
paratively free. For the first he finds no suffi-
cient justification. " There exist no rights to
educate. I do not recognise it. Nowhere and
never have the young generation recognised, nor
will they recognise it ; that is why they are always
in revolt against the compulsion of education."
If, to a certain degree, the compulsion of family
and religious education can be justified and ex-
plained, Tolstoy cannot find a reason for the com-
pulsion of education by the State, and he arrives
at the following conclusion :
" We do not pay attention to the voice of the
people. We do not hear it even, because it does
not speak in the Press or from the platform ;
nevertheless the people are against this educa-
tion."
\
TOLSTOY'S EDUCATIONAL WORK 61
From this point of view he severely and piti-
lessly examines the school system. Although his
article was written half a century ago, many of
his observations have their full value even at the
present time.
His trenchant articles did not fail to pro-
voke replies and criticisms in other reviews. To
one of these replies, that of Eugene Markoff, Tol-
stoy wrote a strong and powerful defence, " Pro-
gress and Instruction." Seeing that the principal
argument in defence of the present system of
education is belief in progress, Tolstoy applies
himself to uproot this belief by proving the insig-
nificance and the conventionality of the idea of
" progress." He points out that the greater part
of humanity, the hundreds of millions of Eastern
people, are quite without this idea.
Tolstoy analysed in his review, Yasnaya Poly ana,
the Ministerial project of organisation of popular
schools, and showed its unfitness for Eussian life,
based as it was on the American system of school
taxes. Altogether, he found that the project was
not adaptable to popular needs, and that the
regulations of popular instruction proposed in
the project represented a drawback to the exist-
ence and expansion of free education.
All these educational views were applied by
62
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
him with the energy of a genius in his school at
Yasnaya Polyana. This school was described in
the following words in his review :
c«
The
school
>
occupies
a
two-storied
brick
9
building. Two rooms are used as classrooms
two for the teachers, and one as a physical cabinet.
In the porch hangs a bell with a rope attached to
it ; in the entrance -hall, downstairs, parallel and
horizontal bars are erected ; whilst in the vesti-
bule, upstairs, stands a carpenter's bench. The
staircase and entrance -hall are covered with foot-
marks of snow and dirt. In the hall also hangs
the programme. The order of the lessons is as
follows : At eight o'clock in the morning the
teacher living in the school, who is its adminis-
trator and very orderly, sends one of the boys
who is sleeping in the school to ring the school-
bell.
" Villagers are early risers, and for a long time
the lights in the peasants' cottages have been
visible from the school. Half an hour after the
ringing of the bell, through the mist or rain, or in
the slanting rays of the autumn sun, little dark
figures appear separately or in pairs on the slopes
of the hollow which divides the school from the
village.
They are not waiting for each other as
formerly. The sentiment to herd together has
TOLSTOY'S EDUCATIONAL WORK 63
disappeared long ago. They have learnt some-
thing already, and for that reason they are more
independent. They do not bring anything with
them : no books, no copy-books ; they have no
home-lessons to do. Not only do they carry nothing
in their hands, but neither are their heads bur-
dened. The little scholar is not obliged to
remember any lesson, not even what he learnt
yesterday. He is not tortured by the thought of
a coming task. He only brings himself, his impres-
sionable nature, and the conviction that to-day
will be just as gay at school as yesterday. He
does not think of a lesson before it begins. Nobody
is reprimanded for being late ; but they are never
late, except when the fathers keep the elder boys
for some work ; and as soon as they are free they
run as fast as possible to school.'*
Such was the organisation of the school ; but
its internal life, the mutual relations between
Tolstoy and the pupils, the budding of their
imagination, their analysis by their common-
sense of the existing routine of teaching — all this
is of incomparably greater interest, and Tolstoy
described it in some artistic sketches in his
review. *
* Tolstoy's principal articles on education were published in the
fourth volume of his complete works. — Author,
6 4
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
In the spring of 1862, Tolstoy felt exhausted
his labour as teacher, editor, Mediator, and
many other occupations to which, with his impul-
sive nature, he devoted himself always so whole-
heartedly. He began to be unwell, to cough, and
the doctors ordered him to go for some time to
the steppes to follow a Kumiss * cure. In the
month of May he started, accompanied by two
boys from his school. The air and nature of the
steppes, combined with the invigorating influ-
ence of the Kumiss, soon restored his health.
During his absence from Yasnaya Polyana an
absurd, though revolting, incident occurred.
By
the anonymous denunciation of a half-literate spy,
Yasnaya Polyana was searched by the
police.
Ridiculous and outrageous as was the search, the
authorities who carried it out made it worse by
their usual brutality, which caused the greatest
commotion amongst the peaceful inhabitants of
Yasnaya Polyana, the aunt and sister of Tol-
stoy being especially alarmed. Of course, the
authorities did not find anything incriminating.
The quiet order of life at Yasnaya Polyana, how-
ever, was so disturbed that it required great efforts
to re-establish tranquillity ; but even then it was
of short duration, and the school was closed.
* Fermented mare's milk. — Translator,
I TOLSTOY'S EDUCATIONAL WORK 65
*
i Although he appeared quite absorbed by edu-
cational work, this sphere of activity could not
fully satisfy Tolstoy. He was seeking truth — the
highest truth — which he could not find. From
\ time to time this struggle for truth became a
great, nervous strain. In his " Confession " Tol-
stoy characterised his state of mind at that time
in the following words :
" In the year of the peasants' emancipation
returned to Russia, and taking the post of
' Mediator,' I began to teach illiterate people
<
in the schools and the educated people in the
review which I began to publish. The work
seemed to go well, but I felt that my mind was
not in a normal state, and that a change had to
come. Probably already at that time I would
have reached that despair in which I was plunged
fifteen years later, if there had not existed yet one
side of life which hitherto I had never tried, and
which promised me salvation — family life.
" During a whole year I was busy as Mediator,
with my schools and review, and I was so ter-
ribly exhausted, especially because my work had
become much involved. My work as a Mediator
was one continuous struggle ; my educational
activity had become more and more vague ; my
shifts in my own review were so odious, as they
p
66
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
consisted in reality of the desire to teach every-
body and to hide that I did not know what to
teach, that I felt ill rather morally than physically,
left everything and went to the steppes — to the
Bashkirs — to breathe the air, to drink Kumiss,
and to live an animal's life. Returning from there,
I married."
Tolstoy's marriage took place in the most
auspicious circumstances. He had already been a
long time acquainted with the family of the Court
physician Behrs, living in the Kremlin at Moscow.
He had known his future wife and her sisters from
their childhood, and they had grown up under his
eyes.
Passionately in love with the younger sister
Sophia, as if afraid of his already mature age, he
hurried on the marriage. On 17th September,
1862, he proposed, and on the 23rd of that month
was
married.
After
the
marriage
the
young
couple went to Yasnaya Polyana, where they
were welcomed by the loving aunt and Leo's
brother, Sergius. From that date a new and
serious period of life began for Tolstoy. He was
thirty- four years of age, and his young wife
eighteen.
1
I
"
■
*
'
.
1
-
'
1
'
i
I
CHAPTER VII
THE EARLY DAYS OF MARRIED LIFE
During the first period of his married life Tolstoy's
days were filled with domestic happiness. In a
letter to his friend, Fet, he says : " I am married
and happy ; I am a new — quite a new — man.
But his rapturous delight did not interfere with
his literary work. He completed the first part of
i
" The Cossacks " — the second part of which, un-
happily, he never finished — and, at the same
period, prepared and published a sketch called
PoliTcushha. Tolstoy himself, in a letter to Fet,
gives the following opinion of these works :
" I live in a world so far away from literature
and critics that on receiving a letter like yours
my first sentiment is astonishment. Who wrote
'The
Cossacks ' and PolikushJca ? And what
p
may be said on their account ? Paper is patient,
and the publisher pays for and prints everything.
But that is only the first impression. When I begin
to look into the meaning of the words and to
search my mind, somewhere, in a corner amongst
69
70
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
old, forgotten rubbish, I find a vague feeling which
may be called artistic. Comparing this with what
you say, I admit that you are right, and even
find pleasure in rummaging among such old rub-
bish and memories instinct with the fragrance of
the past, once so dear to me. Even the desire to
write is awakened. Certainly you are right. But
readers like you are few. Polihushha is gossip
about the first subject to hand by a man who
knows how to handle a pen ; i The Cossacks ' has
more vitality, though also rather poor work. I am
now writing the story of a horse, which I hope to
publish in the autumn."
His creative energy soon reasserted itself, and
he conceived the idea of a gigantic work. His
attention was drawn to the remarkable epoch of
the Decembrists,* and he desired to represent it
in an artistic form. The results of the preliminary
*
work were fragments published in the complete
edition of his works. Studying that historic
period, he did not neglect to examine the causes
of the events he wished to describe, and the whole
period of the Napoleonic wars unfolded itself
before him. Impassioned by his subject, he gave
himself up to it with the whole strength of his
*
attempt of 14th December, 1825
/
the best families of the nobility were involved. — Translator
Countess Tolstoy
»
.
\
EARLY DAYS OF MARRIED LIFE 7*
genius. The great work, " War and Peace,"
gradually evolved. There were many difficulties
and obstacles, but he overcame them by the
power of his genius, now aroused to full activity.
From letters to his friends we see the various
stages through which the work passed to its com-
pletion :
a
am in a very anxious state of mind.
am writing nothing, though working hard. You
cannot imagine how difficult for me is the pre-
liminary work of ploughing deeply the field where
must sow. I must think, and think again, over
what may happen to all the personages of my
future large work, and to consider millions of
possible combinations, and choose from them
the millionth part. It is extremely difficult.
That is what I am occupied with."
In a. later letter to Fet he writes :
" This autumn I made enough progress with my
novel. Ars longa, vita brevis. I am thinking
every day. If one could do the one hundredth
part of what one intends ! But, in reality, only
one millionth part is accomplished. Nevertheless,
the conviction that he can write brings happiness
to the author. You know this feeling. This year
feel it stronger than ever."
At the very height of this period of hard work,
72 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
w
Tolstoy, whilst hunting, was thrown by his horse
and broke his right arm. Eendered unconscious
by the pain, he found, on regaining his senses, that
his horse had run away. Though suffering greatly,
he crept to the high road, where he lay down until
some passers-by conveyed him home on a cart.
It is difficult to imagine such a tragic picture :
the future creator of " War and Peace " lying help-
less, with a broken arm, on the high road, waiting
to be picked up by a chance passer-by.
Deprived for a while of the use of his right hand,
Tolstoy continued his work by dictating to his
sister-in-law. He was also obliged to separate
himself temporarily from his family, as the treat-
ment for his arm obliged him to go to Moscow.
Already, after a month, he writes jokingly to Fet :
must tell you something surprising about
myself. When the horse threw me and broke
my arm, upon regaining consciousness, I said to
myself, ' I am a literary man.' Yes, I am a literary
man, but in seclusion and hiding. In a few days
( i m c J
the first instalment of the first volume of 1815
will appear. Please write me your opinion in
detail. Yours, and that of a man whom I love
more and more with advancing years (Turgenef ) are
dear to me. He will understand. What I wrote
previously I consider only as a trial of my pen
/
*
EARLY DAYS OF MARRIED LIFE 73
Although I like what I am publishing now better
than former writings, nevertheless this also seems
uninteresting, as the beginning of a book some-
5>
times is. But that which will follow !
From this letter it is clear how, through the
modesty of genius, his indomitable creative power
t
asserted itself and his plans developed.
" 1815 " was the original title of " War and
Peace." Studying that epoch, he worked among
the historical and military archives, interviewed
survivors of that period, visited the battlefield of
Borodino, and was so transported with joy by the
picture flashing before his imagination that he
wrote to his wife :
If God grants health and peace, I shall give
such a picture of the battle of Borodino as has
never yet been done."
The work absorbed him entirely, and when he
was especially satisfied with his writing he used
to say to his family :
" To-day I left a bit of my life in my ink-pot."
This great work occupied six whole years
from 1863 to 1869. The critics did not at once
appreciate its value. They were staggered. Liberal
critics, not understanding its meaning and artistic
beauties, accused Tolstoy of reactionary views — of
preaching the philosophy of stagnation, etc. On
\
74
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
the other hand, the conservative critics saw in the
description of battles only patriotic tendencies ;
and even so refined an author as Turgenef, and a
literary connoisseur and friend like Botkin, were
not immediately captured by " War and Peace.'*
But if the victory gained by this work was slow it
was all the more complete, its influence increasing
by degrees as successive instalments appeared.
" to be
The writer considers " War and Peace
the
highest
development
of
Tolstoy's artistic
creative power, and therefore purposes to dwell a
little longer on this work, which nearly approaches
perfection. The descriptions of nature, of the
movement of crowds, the fine moral analysis — all
these are intermingled in exquisite harmony and
proportion. The terrible collision of army corps,
the streets of noisy towns, the country houses of
the nobility, with their surrounding villages, the
drawing-rooms of high society, the nursery of a
happy mother, the romantic intrigues of loving
young people, the execution of a military prisoner,
the psychology of the crowd, and the smallest detail
of the suffering soul of the hero, the snow-covered
plains of Eussia, and the silent field of Austerlitz,
covered with corpses and abandoned wounded,
with the all-forgiving, starry sky overhead — all
these are described with a simplicity and truth
EARLY DAYS OF MARRIED LIFE 75
never till then attained by any master of literature
nor ever likely to be surpassed.
The two heroes, Prince Andrew and Pierre
Bezukhoff, deserve special attention. They are
the incarnation of the two sides of Tolstoy's nature,
so inclined to analysis and scepticism. When he
wrote " War and Peace " he had not achieved that
great synthesis of reason and love which later
inspired all his works. Prince Andrew and Pierre
represent the two forces always at strife in Tolstoy's
own soul : cold reason and invincible idealism.
The truth was lying on the distant crossing point
of those two lines, where reason became the highest
reason and idealism was transformed into love.
In the artistic portion of the novel, Tolstoy has
interwoven his own idea with the philosophy of
history, which he expounded more fully in a special
article :
" A few words on c War and Peace.' The point
of greatest interest for me is the insignificant role
played in the development of historical events by
the so-called great men. Studying the highly
tragic period of the Napoleonic wars, so crowded
■v.
with great events, so recent, on which such varied
traditions are preserved, I come to the definite
conclusion that the causes of historical events are'
concealed from our reason.
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
j
" Such an event as that when millions of people
fought each other, half a million of whom were
actually killed, could not have been caused by the
r
will of one man. Just as it is impossible for one
man to undermine a mountain, so is it impossible
for one man to force five hundred thousand persons
to lay down their lives."
The laws of human life are compared by Tolstoy
with a stencil plate, and human desires, strivings,
and acts to the colours which are carelessly painted
over the plate. Thanks to the stencil plate, in
spite of a carelessly handled brush, we procure a
correct design, because the paint does not show
wherever we happen to apply it, but only at those
parts reached through the pattern cut in the plate.
So, from the thousands of our inco- ordinate de-
sires, only those are realised which correspond
with the open spaces in some great stencil plate
of life.
The most active period of Tolstoy's life was the
'sixties. Despite his great literary work, he did
not neglect his social duties. He occupied himself
with the estate, spent part of his time with his
family, hunted, and so forth. In 1866 he appeared
as the defender of the soldier, Shibunin, who, for
striking his officer, was condemned to death by
the military tribunal. Tolstoy's defence was not
EARLY DAYS OF MARRIED LIFE
77
successful : lie could not save Shibunin, who
was shot. But this event, according to his own •
words, did not pass without its due effect upon
Tolstoy :
<c
k
I vaguely felt, even then," he recently wrote
in a letter, " that capital punishment, this pre-
meditated murder, is in direct contradiction to
that Christian law which we, so to speak, confess,
and destroys every possibility of a rational life as
well as any morality, because it is evident that if
one person or a committee of men can decide
that it is necessary to kill one or more persons
there is no reason why one or more such persons
should not find equal necessity for killing other
people."
Further analysing the vindication by science
or by the Church of capital punishment, he con-
cludes :
Yes, this case had a great and beneficial
9
u
influence on me. On that
for the first
time, I felt two things : that violence pre-supposes
murder or threats of it for its accomplishment, and
that therefore all violence is inevitably connected
with murder ; secondly, that a State organisation
is inconceivable without murder, and consequently
cannot accord with Christianity."
At the same period of life, some of Tolstoy's
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
later social ideas were conceived. In his note
book of 1865 we find the following interesting
observations :
" The historical mission of Eussia consists in
bringing before the world the idea of the socialisa-
tion of land.
" ' La propriete c'est le vol ' will remain a greater
truth for humanity than that of the English con-
stitution. It is an absolute truth, but there are
relative truths as the outcome of its application.
The first of these relative truths is the conception
of property by the Russian people. The Russian
people decry private ownership in land, which is
the most fundamental form of property, least of
all an outcome of work, and, more than any, barring
the acquisition of property by other people. This is
not a dream; it is a fact realised by the Russian
peasants' communes and those of the Cossacks.
This truth is equally well understood by the edu-
'Let
only a Russian revolution may be
cated Russian and the peasant who says
the Government inscribe us as Cossacks, and the
land will be free for us all.' This idea has a future,
and on
based. Such a revolution will not be directed
against the Tsar and despotism, but against
private ownership in land, and the people will say
' Take from each what you like, but leave us the
EARLY DAYS OF MARRIED LIFE 79
land.' Absolutism does not interfere with, but
rather favours, this order of things."
These are the germs of ideas developed by
Tolstoy so powerfully in his later works. Already
we see here the beginning of his sympathy with
Henry George's idea of land nationalisation by the
Single Tax system, which Tolstoy defended till his
death.
CHAPTER VIII
THE ANNA KARENIN PERIOD
Towards the end of the 'sixties, when Tolstoy had
finished his " War and Peace," he was brooding
over new projects of popular instruction, inter-
rupted, as we saw, in 1862. As usual, he threw
his whole energy into the work, and published his
well-known reading-book for beginners. Again he
created a model school, collected teachers around
him, took an active part in the proceedings of the
Moscow Committee for the Promotion of Primary
Instruction, and published an article " On Popular
Instruction " in a St. Petersburg radical monthly
review,
Annals
the Fatherland — an article
which aroused quite a storm in the educational and
literary world.
Surveying with a sharp and pitiless eye the
existing system
of
popular instruction,
with
new arguments he vindicated free schools, as he
had done before in his review, Yasnaya Polyana.
Tolstoy's views were heatedly discussed in the
periodicals of that time and in educational circles.
80
-
ANNA KARENIN PERIOD 81
i
An ardent partisan of Tolstoy's amongst the peda-
gogues was the well-known A. N. Strannolubsky,
-
and in the press N. K. Mikhailovsky.
Of course, Tolstoy, this time also, did not suc-
ceed in shaking the routine in schools, established,
as he expressed it, "by a Zemstvo -Ministerial
Department," but his agitation gave another
impulse to the Russian educational world :
awakened its conscience, holding up new, living
ideals, and it is no exaggeration to say that
Russian schools are free compared with those of
western Europe, we owe this in great part to
Tolstoy.
During this time he published " A New Primer "
and reading-books, which became well known in
Russia and circulated in many million copies,
being even frequently plagiarised, notwithstanding
their rejection by the Ministry of Education.
It seemed as if, during this educational activity,
his artistic powers had accumulated, and once
again he betook himself to purely literary work.
At first he chose the epoch of Peter the Great. In
December, 1872, he wrote to N. Strakhoff :
" Till now I have not been working. I am
surrounded by books on Peter the Great and his
time. I read, I mark; I try to write, but can-
not. But what a wonderful epoch for an artist !
G
82
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
Wherever you turn, problems, enigmas, the solution
of which may be given by a poet only. The whole
crux of Russian life is there. It seems to me that
nothing will come out of my preparations,
studying and agitating myself too much."
am
The more he studied the subject the greater
were the obstacles confronting him when trying to
describe it ; and in the end — in the summer of
1873 — he abandoned those studies altogether.
According to A. S. Behrs, the reason of this
was :
" Tolstoy found that his personal opinion on
Peter the Great was diametrically opposed to that
of the general public, and the whole epoch appeared
to him unsympathetic. Tolstoy asserted that the
personality and activity of Peter showed no great-
ness, and that, on the contrary, all his qualities
were bad. His so-called great reforms were not
adopted for the good of the State, but for his
personal profit. The old, high aristocracy being in
opposition to his reforms, Peter founded a new
capital, (St.) Petersburg, in order to separate him-
self from them and to be able to pursue his per-
sonal, immoral life. The nobility at that time played
a role of great importance, and consequently were
dangerous to him. His reforms and ideas were
borrowed from Saxony, where the code of laws was
C
O
G
CC
OS
U
S3
b
CU
H
?3
^
=s
'
I
(
\
■
ANNA KARENIN PERIOD 83
most cruel and moral license had attained its
greatest height, which specially suited Peter. Thus
Tolstoy explained Peter's friendship with the
Kurfiirst of Saxony, one of the most immoral
amongst the crowned heads of that period. Tol-
stoj* explained Peter's intimacy with Menshikoff, a
former street vendor, and Lefort, a Swiss adven-
turer, by the contempt in which the old nobility
held Peter, and amongst whom he could not find
a companion in his gay, depraved life. But
Tolstoy was most of all revolted by the assassin-
ation of the Tsarevitch Alexis."
At last Tolstoy's creative powers found a sub-
ject worthy of their application. A comparatively
small incident set him writing. Reading aloud the
beginning of one of Pushkin's novels : " The guests
arrived at the country house," etc., Tolstoy
observed, " That is the way to begin ; Pushkin is
our master. He at once brings the reader into the
middle of action. Others would first describe the
guests, the rooms, but Pushkin starts the business
directly." And going to his study, Tolstoy straight-
way wrote down the first pages of a novel, the
subject of which had already been a long time in
his mind. The plot was based on the suicide of a
young woman who threw herself under the train
near the station Yasenky. Tolstoy knew her, and
8 4
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
was present when the inquest was held. The cause
of the suicide was a romance.
Intending to write a story of a society lady who
had left her husband, Tolstoy chose as a motto the
biblical saying, " Vengeance is mine ; I will repay,"
with the intention of explaining the fundamental
idea of the story as that people have no right to
judge others — that judgment belongs to the Creator
*
of the laws governing the existence of humanity.
For human relations there is but one law : that of
mercy. Among all the literary critics, only the
novelist Dostoevsky understood " Anna Karenin "
He wrote a splendid article in his
in
this
sense.
Diary of an Author ' ' :
" There is One who says, ' Vengeance is Mine ; I
will repay.' Only He knows the whole mystery of
this world and the eventual fate of mankind. Man
should not j udge with the pride of his infallibility ;
the hour and time have not yet come. The man
who judges must recognise in his own heart that
the balance and measure will be an absurdity in
his hands if he himself will not bow before the law
of inscrutable mystery, and seek the only way out
mercy and love. And this issue has been shown
to man in order that he may not perish of despair
through not seeing his path or his destiny, and
through the conviction that evil is mysterious and
*>
\
ANNA KARENIN PERIOD 85
unavoidable. This salvation is pointed out in the
powerful scene of the illness of the heroine, when
criminals and enemies are transformed into superior
beings, into brothers pardoning each other, by
mutual forgiveness liberating themselves from lies,
faults, and crimes, and thus at once purifying them-
selves with the full consciousness that pardon has
become theirs by right.
Unfortunately, Dostoevsky did not agree with
Tolstoy about the end of the novel, when Levin, the
positive character of the story, declares himself
hostile to the volunteer movement for Servia. This
divergence was caused by the Slavophile tendencies
from which Dostoevsky could not emancipate him-
self.
In opposition to the history of the fallen woman,
Anna Karenin, another story of spotless family
happiness is developed in which we can trace much
■
of Tolstoy's own home-life. The third element is
the spiritual development of Levin, who, from a
sceptic and egoist, little by little is transformed
into a Christian, receiving from an artless peasant
his faith, the quintessence of which is shortly
expressed in the formula, "To live for God and
your own soul."
The religious note now sounded in Tolstoy's
literary work was the echo of a religious process
86 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
taking place at that time in his mind. It turned
away many liberal critics from him, whilst the con-
servatives, not understanding with whom they had
to deal, hurried to proclaim Tolstoy as one o
"theirs." He stood alone, not inclining towards
either side — tracing his own way.
t
Whilst writing " Anna Karenin," Tolstoy took
a very active part in assisting the starving popu-
lation of the Samara province, and earned the
thanks of many hearts. In 1873, with his family,
he spent the summer in the province on his newly
acquired estate. Observing the life of the surround-
ing peasantry, Tolstoy foresaw that the great
calamity of a famine was menacing the population,
and the Zemstvos and the State were doing nothing
to avert it. After a careful investigation in some
neighbouring villages, and armed with statistics,
he published in August, in the Moscow Gazette, an
appeal for help. At the same time he attracted
the attention of certain high personages at court ;
donations came in lavishly, and the present misery
was considerably alleviated. Altogether nearly
two million roubles in money, besides much grain,
were collected for the sufferers. The following
harvest was abundant, so that the aid given had
\
really been timely, as it afforded the population
the means wherewith to bridge over the hard times.
ANNA KARENIN PERIOD 8 7
The strenuous activity of the seventies, his
family cares and duties, the question of the educa-
tion of the children, his successful literary career,
his beneficent social work — all these did not fully
satisfy Tolstoy, and at the end of that period the
same doubts about the meaning of life arose as he
had experienced after the death of his brother,
towards the end of his bachelor life. At that time,
as we know from Tolstoy's own words, he overcame
those doubts by his marriage, which opened to him
a new and yet untried side of life. But now these
doubts, not being subdued by any outside influence,
returned with renewed strength and inevitably
carried him on to the crisis of his life.
CHAPTER IX
THE CRISIS
From
childhood Tolstoy had always inclined
towards religion. This inclination was first stifled
by the traditional rites and ceremonies of the
Orthodox Church, then by the full play of his
passions, his eventful life, his literary success and
fame, by different philosophic theories, and finally
by his family life. Nevertheless, this religious dis-
position was never quite extinguished, and from
time to time it manifested itself. But when the
last illusion had gone, this powerful sentiment
gathered up and, like a torrent, rushed along,
-
sweeping aside every obstacle in its way.
The substance of religion, as Tolstoy had always
faintly conceived it, was the relation of man to the
fundamental principle of the universe ; this rela-
tion, and his unity with it, produced in man the
conviction of indestructibility, and belief in immor-
tality.
Without this belief, life, with the eternal
dread of death, would be terribly absurd — even
worse than annihilation itself. The conceptions
88
I
THE CRISIS
which led to this belief in immortality were love,
self-sacrifice, service to others, to the world, to God
generally, the sacrifice of the ego and devotion
to humanity.
These thoughts were rising in his mind at the
best moments of his life ; his religious ideas were
for the first time clearly formulated in the Caucasus,
where the beauty of nature invigorated his soul
and the doors of eternity seemed to open before
him, shedding on him the rays of a heavenly light.
But he was not yet ready to receive this light. He
had to pass through many years of suffering before
the momentary, passing recognition of the futility
of worldly interests became a fixed conviction.
Internal, secret growth of the spirit had to run
parallel with physical development ; inevitable
conflicts between the physical personality and the
religious conscience were necessary to decide once
for all which was to predominate and influence his
life. In this encounter victory remained with
religion, and the power of the physical personality
was broken for ever.
No illusion could ever restore the importance of
the material side of life. In such a struggle souls
often perish, and spiritual death is certainly the
worst which may befall a man. Though Tolstoy
did not perish spiritually, he lost much strength in
90
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
this struggle, and when he triumphed, like a new-
born child he scarcely could conceive the greatness
of the existence he was entering upon. All the
stages of this process are told with inimitable
sincerity in his " Confession." The state of mind
of a man who has lost all interest in a worldly life,
;e it. is
but has not yet found anything to
pla
described by Tolstoy in the images of an Oriental
tale:
" To save himself from a wild beast, a traveller
jumps into a dry well, but perceives at the bottom
a drag
with open jaws
9
dy to devour him
Not daring to climb out of the well and
order
not to be devoured by the dragon, the man catches
hold of the branches of a wild shrub growing in a
crack in the wall of the well. But his arms grow
tired, and he feels that he must soon succumb to
one or other of the menacing dangers. He holds
on, however, when he sees two mice, one white and
one black, at the foot of the shrub, steadily run-
ning around
and
gnawing it through.
He
sees
that at any moment the shrub may topple over,
and he must drop into the j a ws of the dragon. The
traveller feels that he is inevitably lost ; he gazes
around and discovers a few drops of honey on the
shrub. He can reach them with his tongue, and
licks them up. Thus do I cling to the branches of
THE CRISIS 91
life, knowing that the jaws of death may close on
me at any moment, and I cannot understand why
am in such torture. I am trying to suck the
honey which used to comfort me, but now I do
not enjoy it. The black and white mice continue
day and night to gnaw the branch to which I cling.
I clearly see the dragon and the mice, and cannot
take my eyes off them. This is not a fable, but a
clear, indisputable truth, evident to everybody."
All the wise men of the world whom Tolstoy
addressed with the question of the meaning of life
answered that life was evil and meaningless ; and
he decided to quit life, and was near to suicide.
But his love for the people, his interest in the life
of the workers, who saw a meaning in life, saved
him. He put to himself the question : " Is life
perhaps evil and meaningless because I am living
wrongly ? That is to say, is my life evil and
meaningless — my life and that of all those of my
circle who, like myself, do not see any meaning in
life ? "
The question so sincerely put to himself brought
him salvation. There was only one answer:
working people, serving others, learn the meaning
of life, love life, and are not afraid to die. This
meaning of life for the people has taken the shape
of religion. Tolstoy accepted this religion of the
92 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
people, wishing to unite himself with them in their
adoration of God. But the process of his regener-
ation was not yet complete. As he tells himself
periodically, his soul was lifted up only to be cast
down:
" What is the meaning of this spiritual ecstasy
and death ? I am not living when I lose belief in
the existence of God, and long ago I would
killed myself but for the faint hope of finding Him.
y>
only live when I seek and feel Him. But why
am I yet seeking ? a voice asked within me. Here
He is. Without Him there is no life. To know
' God and to live are synonymous. God is life.
He was saved from despair, life returned to
him — the very life force of his youth — but now it
was a conscious life ; he had found God, and had
faith in Him. And his faith was one with that
of the working people. Tolstoy himself describes
the end of his search and doubts :
" I renounced the life of my circle, but I recog-
nised that it was not life but an imitation ; that
the luxury in which we lived deprived us of the
capacity to understand life, and in order to under-
stand life I must understand not the mode of
existence of us parasites of life, who are exceptions,
but that of the toilers, those who create life and
the meaning of life. The simple working people
THE CRISIS 93
around me were Russians, and I addressed myself
to them for the meaning which they give to life.
Their meaning was the following : ' Man is created
by God, and made in such a way that he can save
or lose his soul. The problem for every man is to
save his soul. To save his soul he must live accord-
ing to God's will, and in order to live according to
God's will he must renounce all the pleasures of
life ; he must labour, be humble, patient, and
merciful.' The people gather this meaning of life
from their religion, transmitted to them by their
pastors, and preserved among them by tradition.
This conception is clear to me, and near to my
heart."
But this peaceful haven was only a stage on
the road to his religious development. The form
of the popular religion being the Greek Orthodox
Church and its creed, Tolstoy, adopting it, came
soon in direct collision with the established
Church. For him, faith meant salvation from
death. The Church creed, however, at its best
was only serving the interest of the State. Soon
Tolstoy recognised that his faith, purified by
reason, had nothing in common with the Church
creed but a few religious terms. In order to have
the right to assert this, he submitted the dogma
of the Orthodox Church to severe examination.
*
94
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
The results lie published in his book, " A Criticism
of Dogmatic Theology."
Freeing himself from the creed of the Church,
he was inevitably led to examine the teaching of
Christianity as contained in the Bible, and conse-
quently the Bible itself. He did this in a lengthy
work, " The Four Gospels Unified and Trans-
lated." In this work, step by step, he analysed the
text of the Gospels, throwing aside that which was
not clear or not directly connected with the main
idea of Christianity. The passages clearly express-
ing this principal idea he arranged in a connected,
easily understood form, and the whole teaching
assumed a complete, harmonious, and popular
character. Arriving at the very root of Christianity,
r
Tolstoy undertook a new work to explain his con-
ception of it : " What is My Faith ? " It may be
said that, with this book, the cycle of his religious
development was accomplished.
J
CHAPTER X
" WHAT THEN MUST WE DO ?
»
In his " What is My Faith ? " Tolstoy writes :
I "
Five, years ago I adopted the teaching
of Christ, and my life suddenly changed ;
ceased to wish that which I formerly wished,
and I began to wish that which I formerly did
not wish. What formerly appeared good now
appeared evil ; and what formerly appeared
evil now appeared good. With me happened
just what happened to a man who went out for
some business and on the way decided that it
was unnecessary, and therefore returned. All
that which was at the right side, then was at the
left side, and that which had seemed on the left
was then on the right ; the desire to be as far as
possible from home gave way to the desire to be as
near as possible to home. The direction of my life
my desires — became different ; and good and
evil changed places. All this was the result of
my understanding the teaching of Christ otherwise
■
than before."
i 95
i
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
Thus he saw in a new light all his surroundings
and his own conduct. But life went on in the same
way, and his new relation to it inevitably led to a
series of collisions. Such collisions he could not
avoid, even in his own family life, till then happy
and tranquil, nor among his literary friends and his
acquaintances in the high society to which he him-
self belonged. Finally, the conflict between his
new conceptions and his surroundings extended
itself to the State.
The events of Kussian life at that period require
special attention. The fundamental breaking up
of the old order had begun, and the first thunder-
bolt fell on March 13th, 1881. The Revolutionary
Executive Committee condemned Alexander II. to
death, and carried out the sentence. This event
shook the whole Russian nation, and made a deep
impression on Tolstoy. It appeared to him as a
confirmation of his conviction that the Russian
State and society had lost the very foundation of
Christian morality, but, on the other hand, the
two hostile camps awakened in him boundless pity
as he saw their profound error.
He addressed a long letter to the Emperor,
Alexander III. He pleaded to the Tsar to pardon
the culprits for the sake of Christ's teaching, as he
considered the only way of Russia's salvation lay
"WHAT THEN MUST WE DO?" 97
in the precepts of Jesus. The two other methods
— cruel repression and liberal reforms — had been
tried and had failed. No answer was made to this
letter, and the regicides were executed. These
events made a deep impression on his soul.
At that time a great change took place in his
home life. He went with his family to live in
Moscow. Town life was a great trial for Tolstoy :
the crying contrast between the city beggars and
the insolent opulence of the rich ; at every street
corner hungry beggars with hands stretched out for
alms, and gluttons gorging themselves in brilliantly
lighted restaurants ; coachmen shivering on their
boxes whilst their masters enjoyed the music of the
theatres or churches — all this made his heart ache,
imbued as he was with the Christian spirit and
seeking for its manifestation around him.
In the winter of 1882 a census was taken in
Moscow. Tolstoy conceived the idea of seizing the
occasion to penetrate into the worst and most
wretched slums of the poor, in order to study them
and devise some means of alleviation. He made an
appeal to Moscow society, inviting it to make use
of the coming census in order to get into touch
with the poor and to extend to them unfailing
brotherly and Christian help. The resources needed
for this purpose he supposed might be collected by
i
I
*
H
9»
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
public subscription, philanthropic evenings, and
by personal demand for help and sympathy from
the rich.
Tolstoy offered his services to the Moscow
municipality for the census, and, according to his
express wish, he was appointed to one of the
poorest quarters of the city, where the night
shelters of Koshnoff are situated. During the
census, Tolstoy plumbed to the very bottom of
Moscow's poverty and wretchedness, but all his
efforts to organise some system of assistance were
unsuccessful. He had an experience somewhat
similar to that attending his philanthropic efforts
among the peasants forty years before, described
in the sketch, " A Morning of a Landowner." He
now, as then, saw that the poverty and destitution
of these people were the result of the worldly,
luxurious life which he himself lived, and conse-
quently that it was impossible to help those people
whose sufferings were the direct outcome of one's
own idle life — that real aid, the result of a moral
and brotherly feeling, could not be given to people
looking on one with defiance and hatred.
This
unsuccessful
attempt
at
charity
was
described by Tolstoy in a book, " What Then Must
We Do ? " He carefully, and in detail, examined
the condition of the town, the division of the popu-
The Last Portrait of Tolstoy— taken six weeks before his death
I
-
-
■'
.
'
'.
i€
WHAT THEN MUST WE DO ? " 99
lation into rich and poor, idle and working, and
reached the conclusion that only a radical change
in the whole social order could abolish the dreadful,
bitter, and savage poverty created by the opulent
and idle life of the privileged classes.
Tolstoy considered money one of the principal
evils of the existing social order, as money is, so to
say, concentrated compulsion, easily transferred to
another. Our false social order is upheld by false
science with its complicated theories justifying
existing evil.
" What then must we do ? "' Tolstoy asked
again, laying bare all the sores of the existing order
by a subtle and merciless analysis. The answer
he gave is the same as that given by John the
Baptist to his contemporaries : repent, be re-born,
give to the poor, not a farthing or a shilling from
your thousands and millions, but share with the
poor their hard, working lives. Accordingly, Tol-
stoy began to reform his own life ; he renounced
everything superfluous — wine, tobacco, meat, etc.
and endeavoured to spend his time in productive
work for the general welfare. He divided his days
into four parts, and gave the first part to intel
lectual work, the second to hard physical labour,
the third to crafts and light manual labour, and
the fourth to intercourse with people. He tried
ioo THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
to repress anger and excitability in himself, to be
gentle with everybody, to tame his pride, and
continued his struggle against evil passions and
habits.
Town-life began to be very heavy for him, and
when the occasion presented itself he would return
to Yasnaya Polyana. Sometimes he travelled the
whole distance on foot. In the village he invari-
ably threw himself heart and soul into the peasants'
work — ploughing, mowing, cutting wood, building
peasants' huts, especially for widows and orphans.
The spreading of his new views and his new
way of living soon began to attract those people
in whom the same ideas and feelings were slumber-
ing, but who awaited a powerful initiative before ;
starting together upon a new road. Some of these I
people came to him, others Tolstoy found himself ;
and in this way was formed around him a circle of
new men, quite different from his former acquaint- j
ances. With the latter he did not break formally, j
but they left him little by little, feeling unable to
follow him. The remarkable peasant Sutaieff, the
painter N. Gay, the teacher Orloff, Feodoroff, the
librarian of the Eoumiantsef Museum, the peasant
Bondaref (afterwards exiled to Siberia) — such as
these were Tolstoy's new friends. The light of his
faith began to penetrate also his former social circle ;
it
WHAT THEN MUST WE DO?" 101
V. G. Tehertkoff made his acquaintance, and,
through him, the writer of these lines. Tolstoy be-
gan to evolve a project to help the people in a new
way : to select from the rich heritage of centuries
of culture, art, and science all that is most useful
and accessible and that leads to the welfare and
union of mankind. The publishing society of
Posrednik (" The Mediator ") was started, and
Tolstoy inaugurated a new sphere for his activity
that of the propagation of his ideas, now fully
developed. This was during the middle of the
'eighties.
/
\
CHAPTER XI
• «
POPULAR LITERATURE
When in Moscow, Tolstoy frequently visited the
Nikolsky Market and the Ilinsky Gate, where,
during the 'eighties, the pedlars used to buy their
stock of popular literature. Tolstoy had long
since wished to bring new blood into this litera-
ture, which at that period was a strange mixture
of booklets on saints* lives, patriotic military
tales, and strange romantic adventures, mostly
written by illiterate people in a coarse style, often
without beginning or end, and, generally, indiges-
tible as intellectual food. Strange to say, Kussian
literature of that period was illustrious with
great names, but not a single one — poets, novel-
ists, or scientists — was ever brought before the
mass of the people. This injustice Tolstoy was
disposed, if not to remedy entirely, at least to
reduce as much as possible.
As a beginning, he wrote a series of highly
artistic tales to be published in the form of popu-
lar literature, but in good style, with attractive
1 02
.
POPULAR LITERATURE 103
illustrations and such moral tendencies as Tolstoy
alone was capable of imparting. The form of
these tales, the language and style, were so simple
and perfect that it was impossible to add or to
omit a single word ; they were comprehensible
and pleasing to young and old alike.
To the realisation of this splendid project,
Tolstoy's friend, V. 6. Tchertkoff, gave a great
deal of moral and material assistance, and the
business side of the plan was carried out with
great success by T. D. Sitin, at that time a small
Moscow publisher of popular literature, and now
the head of the big publishing firm of T. D. Sitin
and Co. The success of the Posrednik is due
in great part to his energy, business knowledge,
and sincere devotion to the cause. The author
of this book took also a modest part in the initia-
tion of the business. To give an idea how suc-
cessful our enterprise proved to be, I here quote
a few figures of our editions. Each of Tolstoy's
booklets was seldom printed in less than 24,000
copies, and yearly we had five of such editions.
The number of our publications began to grow
so fast that we soon had to count copies by the
million. Towards the end of the fourth year we
saw that the approximate number of copies sold
was 12,000,000, which meant 3,000,000 annually.
io4 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
As the authors did not copyright any of their
writings for the PosredniJc, many other pub-
lishers brought out reprints of our books. The
number of these reprints is not known, but is,
without doubt, immense. Our publications grew
so in quantity that it was impossible even for the
Government inspectors to keep full control, and
sometimes hundreds of thousands of copies eluded
their vigilant eyes. Three to four millions yearly
were kept up a fairly long time. The Report of the
Moscow Committee of the Society for the Promo-
tion of Popular Instruction, in the middle of the
'nineties, also states the number of copies sold of
the publications of the PosredniJc as 3,500,000
yearly.
The soul of this great enterprise was Tolstoy,
who gave much of his energy to it. The first
publications were tales from his reading-book
" The Prisoner of the Caucasus," " God Sees the
Truth." Later were published " What People are
Living By," "A Fire Neglected Consumes the
House," " Where Love is there is God," " Two Old
Men," " The Candle," and " Ivan the Fool." Soon
many of the best Russian authors followed Tol-
stoy's example, and Posrednih published popular
editions of Leskoff, Garshin, Ertel, Potekhin,
Ostrovsky, Savikhin, Obolensky, Wagner, Nemiro-
^
V
1
. ■
■
■
pia
, ....
.--■
. .
'.'
- ■ .
■■
.,*. *x*
#-'*'■ . ■"q'f
m ** w ■*** "i
, ■:
■ ■ * 4
'
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. , .:■
■ II"' *'"*
-x
■ x"; x*;
■:
■■
V
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:
■;■; :
: :■ ■
:v. v v .-,- ■:■'■ \ ■: . . ■■:
x--:*<:*;£;£j
The Last Illness.
Tolstoy in his Bedroom, talking to
Dr. Makovitski.
■
K
POPULAR LITERATURE 105
vitch-Danchenko, Mamin-Sibiriak, etc. Besides
books, popular pictures were issued by artists
like Repin, Kivshenko, Savitsky, and Sologub,
and also reproductions from foreign masterpieces ;
the text for these pictures was always written
or edited by Tolstoy himself.
While serving the people as an author, Tolstoy
never neglected his physical labours. When
living in Moscow he was frequently cutting and
splitting wood, drawing water, working as a
cobbler ; and he wore boots made by himself.
In early spring he was in the habit of returning
to Yasnaya Polyana, often on foot with a knapsack
on his back. There he shared in the peasants'
work: ploughing, manuring, sowing, haymaking,
harvesting. When at home in autumn and winter,
he might often be seen with a hatchet and saw,
cutting wood, which he distributed among the
peasants for building purposes, or to orphans and
other needy ones for firewood. Tolstoy's life was,
indeed, full of many and varied activities.
Sometimes he had to pay dearly for his zeal,
and his want of care for himself whilst at work
with the peasants. In 1866, for instance, during
hay-making, he hurt his knee when climbing into
■
a cart. When the worst pain had subsided he
paid no further attention to the hurt. After
io6
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
a few days, inflammation set in and, later, a
wound appeared which began to involve the bone.
Tolstoy was obliged to keep his bed for a whole
month, after undergoing a serious surgical operation
which had become necessary in order to prevent
blood-poisoning.
He bore his illness patiently, though before
the danger was over he told his visitors, simply
and seriously, that he might die from his wound,
and rejoiced that his illness allowed him a few
leisure hours for thoughts of life and death. Dur-
ing his convalescence — and for a very long time
Tolstoy could not go out — he conceived the idea
of writing a popular drama, and the same autumn
he wrote The Power of Darkness. What befell the
happen in Russia. Authorised
piece
could
mi
by the censor for publication, with a few (
sions, the drama was staged at the Imperial
Theatre
When
everything was prepared, the re-
hearsals concluded, the costumes and scenery
ready, the Government prohibited the play in all
theatres. Only after many years was the authori-
sation given for representation.
/
i
1
<
J
,
-
"
r
/
■
■
•
,
CHAPTER XII
THE SPREAD OP TOLSTOY'S INFLUENCE
The new religio-philosophic works of Tolstoy were
prohibited in Russia, but they continued to spread.
In his native land they were circulated either by
hand-written copies or in lithographed or hecto-
graphed form, but they were printed in Russian
beyond the frontier — in Geneva, London, and
Berlin — where also translations appeared. The
French translation of Tolstoy's most important
work, " What is My Faith ? " was carried out
by his friend Prince Leonide Urusoff, who sincerely
sympathised with the views expressed in that
work. A somewhat shortened English translation
was published by V. G. TchertkofE, together with
" Confession " and a short exposition of the
Gospels. Shortly after, the same works appeared
in Germany. These translations acquainted the
western world with Tolstoy's new views, and they
undoubtedly popularised him much more than his
novels, which, though appreciated, often were not
fully understood by western readers, owing in
great part to difficulties of translation.
109
♦
no
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
Simultaneously with the wider dissemination
of Tolstoy's works, there began to pour into Yas-
naya Polyana books and manuscripts from people
more or less in sympathy with his views. Later,
visitors from countries far and near made pilgrim-
age to his home, and Tolstoy began to be the centre
of a definite and widespread phase of spiritual life.
One of the first of these new acquaintances was
a sectarian, Sutaieff, to whom earlier reference
has been made. He was a typical Russian reli-
gious personality. Basing his views on the Gospel,
*
he preached personal life in harmony with the
inner voice of conscience, and communism and
brotherhood in social life. Tolstoy visited Sutaieff
in his village, Shavelino, in the Tver province,
and Sutaieff paid a return visit to Tolstoy in
Moscow. Afterwards they met once more in
Yasnaya Polyana. Each meeting with Sutaieff
accentuated the favourable impression he had
made upon Tolstoy. During Sutaieff's stay in
Moscow, according to Tolstoy's own words, he
greatly helped the latter to elucidate his ideas
upon charity. Sutaieff startled Tolstoy by his
daring thought : his project to abolish poverty
to distribute the poor among the well-to-do people
in order that together they might lead useful,
productive lives.
.2
o
.5
CO
O
X
CD
H
<
SPREAD OF TOLSTOY'S INFLUENCE hi
Another remarkable man who produced a great
impression upon Tolstoy was also a self-taught
sectarian — the peasant Timothy Bondaref. De-
ported to Siberia together with his peasant co-
religionists, for spreading the teachings of the
Sabbatarians, they settled near Minusinsk, the
southern part of Central Siberia, where they
formed a community. Bondaref's mind was especi-
ally occupied with the question of the causes of
social inequality. His arguments were very original,
and based on the Bible. The first commandment
given by God to man, said he, was " In the sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat bread " ; to woman,
" In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children." The
majority of women up to to-day have obeyed the
latter commandment — even the Empress " brings
forth children in sorrow " — because one cannot buy
a child : it would always be another's. But the
men try by every means to avoid the command-
ment laid upon them ; the educated classes do not
earn their bread in the sweat of their face, but
_ v
buy the bread of others. Hence the evil caused
by the privileged classes : the sloth, luxury, and
immorality on the one side, and poverty, ignor-
ance, and wretchedness on the other. No preach-
ing of love will remedy this evil. The command-
ment of love came later, and people are trying to
ii2 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
shield themselves under it. Unless the command-
■
ment of work is fulfilled, that of love cannot be
carried out, and all preaching of love without
labour appears hypocrisy.
All these ideas were developed by Bondaref
in his book, " Diligence, or the Triumph of Agri-
culturists," the manuscript of which was sent to
Tolstoy. Finding that Bondaref had many views
in common with himself, Tolstoy exchanged with
him several friendly letters. He decided to pub-
lish Bondaref s work, which was written in a
powerful, original style. He corrected it, and
wrote an introduction. At first the censor pro-
hibited the publication, but now the book is
issued by the Posrednik.
Tolstoy's views began to penetrate into Russian
intellectual circles. After the assassination of
Alexander II. the number of young people with
revolutionary tendencies considerably diminished.
Ideals and projects for a reconstruction of society
were sought in another direction, and the new
thoughts of Tolstoy were much more sympathetic
with the state of mind of those young people.
Amongst them began to develop a serious moral
and religious movement combined with the desire
for radical political reforms. Owing to this move-
ment, several agricultural colonies of intellectual
SPREAD OF TOLSTOY'S INFLUENGE 113
*
people were started ; also many persons from the
middle classes and nobility went to live among
the workers ; others refused to take the oath or
to fulfil their military duties. One of the first
cases was the refusal, in 1886, of Alexis Zabu-
lovsky to serve as a soldier. He was condemned
to two years in the disciplinary battalion at
Askhabad in Central Asia, where he suffered
greatly, especially during the long marches to his
destination. Afterwards the refusals became more
and more frequent, in Russia as well as in foreign
countries, and nowadays they occur at every
recruiting season.
The spread of Tolstoy's works in western
and America also led to communications
from and correspondence with societies accepting
Christianity in the same spirit as himself ; that is
t
to say, condemning violence whether by the indi-
vidual or by the State. From England the first
response came from the Quakers ; from America
the Shakers, and members of non-resistance socie-
ties formed by Harrison and Ball ; from Austria
wrote a sect of Nazarenes, the members of which
regularly refuse military service and are im-
prisoned in consequence. As to the Russian
Dukhobors, we shall speak of them later.
In 1885, Tolstoy was visited by a Russian emi-
1
ii4
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
grant who had been living a long time in America
William Frey, a follower of Auguste Comte,
and
an
exponent
of
Comte's " Religion of
Humanity." Notwithstanding some eccentricity
in his teaching, his charming personality made a
deep
and sympathetic impression on Tolstoy.
Frey tried
to
induce Tolstoy to promulgate
Comte's doctrine and, although he did not suc-
ceed, he gained Tolstoy's personal sympathy and
deep love.
Just at this period Tolstoy studied Henry
George's theory of land nationalisation and single
tax. He adopted it whole-heartedly. As is known,
this theory consists in the abolition of all taxes
except one, namely a tax on the land, and that
in proportion to its rent. By this means, it was
argued, the nationalisation of the land would be
*
accomplished, and large properties in land would
be abolished without any violence or expropria-
Henry George developed his ideas in many
works, the majority of which are translated into
Russian.
In 1887 George Kennan, the well-known tra-
veller in Siberia, went to see Tolstoy, but they
could not agree in their views. Kennan found non-
resistance to violence, especially in self-defence,
absurd, and notwithstanding Tolstoy's great esteem
tion.
SPREAD OF TOLSTOY'S INFLUENCE 115
-
for Kennan because of his denunciation of the
horrors of Eussian prisons and deportation to
Siberia, he was far from satisfied with the visit.
I
Quite the contrary was the case in the visit
of Professor Massarik, a Czech and a doctor of
■
philosophy, who left a very pleasant impression
by his simplicity and clear understanding of high,
spiritual problems. But the visit of Deroulede,
the well-known French patriot, was not fruitful
of mutual understanding. His hatred of Ger-
many, and his hope of revenge, brought him to
Russia with the view of arousing public opinion
there against Germany and of inducing Russia to
declare war against her neighbour, so that the latter
might be attacked from two sides. He therefore
appealed to Tolstoy as being a leader of public
opinion. Tolstoy, in a humorous sketch, described
the efforts of Deroulede to explain to the peasants
of Yasnaya Polyana how Germany was to be
squeezed from two sides, and how the peasants
replied that it would be better to invite the
Germans to work beside them. Deroulede's mis-
.
sion proved a failure.
Tolstoy's ideas began to penetrate amongst the
peasantry and working classes chiefly owing to
the publications of the Posrednik. In 1887 he
received a copy of a catechism from the south
n6 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
t I*
/» V
•s r . 7
Russian Stundis' community, in which the texts
of the gospels had been quoted from Tolstoy's
edition, and the whole catechism was in accord-
ance with his conception of Christianity. Thus
the light he had kindled began to shine over a
world thirsting for love and truth.
Towards the end of the 'eighties, the bitterness
of Tolstoy's relations with his family and sur-
roundings, and especially with his former aristo-
cratic friends, gradually lessened, and his spirit-
ual life began to be serene and tranquil. On
October 5th, 1887, he celebrated his silver wedding
in the seclusion of his family circle.
His works were always highly appreciated
by the best of the Russian painters. As early
as 1873, Kramskoy had painted his portrait,
which may be considered the best for its resem-
blance and expression. In 1882, the radical
painter, N. Gay, first visited Tolstoy and became
his friend and follower. This passionate, impres-
sionable, and at the same time kind and ingenuous,
man was whole-heartedly attached to the great
Russian reformer, and remained so till his death.
He often stayed at the latter's house, and Tolstoy
in his turn frequently visited Gay on his small
estate in the Chernigov province ; besides which
they maintained a steady correspondence. In 1884
SPREAD OF TOLSTOY'S INFLUENCE 117
Gay painted Tolstoy sitting at his writing-table.
Though his eyes are not visible, the whole figure
is so characteristic, and so lovingly and strikingly
rendered, that this portrait became very dear to
Tolstoy's friends.
In 1887, Russia's greatest painter, Eliah Repin,
came to Yasnaya Polyana. His picture — Tolstoy
ploughing — is wonderful for its deep meaning.
Besides the technical and artistic value, it is an
emblem of the union of the greatest Russian genius
with the Russian people and land. This picture is
v now one of the most popular in lithographic and
photographic copies and post cards ; it is, for
Russia, one of the epoch-making pictures. The
best Russian sculptors also, such as Trubetskoy,
Ginsburg, and Aronson, have immortalised Tolstoy
in their works.
During Tolstoy's conversation with his numer-
ous visitors on the new conception of Christianity,
and on the consequent change in the relation of
man to man, he observed that his words were not
always convincing to his visitors, chiefly because
they differed on the very fundamental principles
of life. This led Tolstoy to a systematic explana-
tion of his philosophy in a book called " On Life,"
published towards the end of the 'eighties.
CHAPTER XIII
FURTHER LITERARY AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
In his book " On Life," Tolstoy defines the condi-
tions under which a man's regeneration to a new
life begins. Every conscious man must observe
that in his endeavour to acquire personal happi-
ness he finds himself in direct conflict with those
■
around him, who are also struggling for happi-
ness, and this strife
gives
him no rest — even
poisons his efforts for well-being. Besides, if man
succeeds in snatching a particle of happiness, it
ceases very soon to satisfy him, because he under-
stands its illusory character. The more he experi-
ences the satisfaction of reaching personal well-
being, the more he recognises its ephemeral cha-
racter, and this conclusion does not allow him
to enjoy happiness when obtained. And, further,
however stable and complete the material well-
being may appear, a conscious man cannot help
seeing death ready at any moment to devour
him and thus destroy all his illusion of
happiness.
us
\
'
LITERARY AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES 119
There is no way out of it. Life becomes para-
lysed, and what remains — the inertia of life — may
suffice only to make an end of this absurd con-
tradiction of life.
There is only one way of salvation — to re-
nounce material pleasures, to be re-born, and to
adopt love as the principle of life. Love — not in
the sense of a physical preference for one over
another, but a love which has as its dominating
impulse the welfare of others and loving service
to them rather than making one's own personal
happiness the chief end. Such love solves all con-
tradictions of life. Love ends the struggle, and
replaces it by mutual concessions and brotherly
assistance. Love's realm is unlimited and with-
out disillusion and satiety, because moral happi-
ness is independent of our physical personality.
Love does not fear death, because the aim of love,
service to others, is immortal and cannot be
interrupted by one of the disciples falling out of
the ranks. Love, by its substance, unites man to
eternity.
This idea is developed by Tolstoy with a deep,
psychological analysis, and, demonstrating the
groundlessness of the fear of death, he concludes
by saying :
" What man needs is given to him — life which
•
120
THE LIFE O
F TOLSTOY
■
cannot be death, and happiness which cannot be
evil."
Eussian censorship found this work harmful
also, and the first edition was burnt. But now it
is freely sold, in complete and in abridged editions.
At that time Tolstoy turned his attention to
human excesses, such as smoking, drunkenness,
the eating of meat, and sexual intemperance. On
these questions he wrote a series of articles. Smok-
ing and drinking he dealt with in " Why do Men
Intoxicate Themselves ? " It appeared as the in-
troduction to the book by Dr. Alexeef. Tolstoy
explained vegetarianism in an article entitled
The First Step," also written as an introduc-
es
•»
tion to a book
u
The Ethics of Food
5?
trans -
In
lated into Eussian under his supervision,
addition, he wrote short, popular articles on the
same theme, and even
sion.
it an artistic expres-
He also organised a temperance society.
Persons desiring to enter this society were asked
to sign the following form :
" Eecognising the great evil and sin of drunken-
ness, I, the undersigned, decide never to drink any
alcohol, vodka, wine, or beer ; not to buy or
will
and
offer it to others ; with all my strength
others, especially young people
convince
children, of the evils of drunkenness and the
*
LITERARY AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES 121
advantages of a sober life ; and I will gain mem-
bers for our society. We beg all agreeing with us
to keep this form, to write down on it the names
of new members, and to communicate with us.
any intend to give up this pledge, we beg him
to communicate with us."
These forms were distributed promptly and
covered with signatures, and towards the end of
the first year there were over a thousand members.
It is understood that Tolstoy himself was the first
to set the example. He gave up smoking, and
neither meat nor wine appeared again on his table.
Especially, however, he devoted his pen to the
fight against sexual excess. This question, in its
general aspect, he had touched already in his
drama, " The Power of Darkness," in which crime is
committed by a man not evil by nature, but who
has become entangled in an illicit alliance. With
special vigour he drew in " The Kreutzer Sonata "
a picture of the dreadful consequences of such
sinful relations. He presents to his readers three
stages in those relations. The first is the full
submission of woman to man, in whose sensual
power she is, and who exacts from her absolute
chastity ; the second is the antithesis of the first
a liberal recognition of the equal rights of woman
in sin ; and the third is the semi-patriarchal res-
122
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
pectability which is the hypocritical family morality
practised by the majority of married persons in
the middle and upper classes, and at the bottom
of which lies, not spiritual union between man
and woman, but crude sensuality in the guise of
conventionality. This sensuality begins to mani-
fest itself in youth, and poisons the purity of the
relations between man and woman. Hence j ealousy,
unfaithfulness, and often tragedies. There is only
one way of salvation — absolute chastity, and " let
him who can practise it, do so." The most a Chris-
tian ought to permit himself is monogamy. The
artistic form of this story, the dialogue, and the
first person being employed throughout, misled
not a few readers into the belief that it was an
autobiography.
Needless
to say
9
this belief is
absolutely unjustifiable.
At the end of 1889, Tolstoy finished his comedy,
which at first he had called " Too Cunning," but re -
christened " The Fruits of Enlightenment." In this
comedy he again ridiculed the indolence of Russian
high society and the would-be scientific solemnity
with which they treat trivial affairs. The last
-
touches to the comedy were given by Tolstoy at
the request of his daughter, who wanted the piece
for a performance at home, in Yasnaya Polyana.
Tolstoy took great interest in the work, assisted
LITERARY AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES 123
at the rehearsals, and gave his advice to the actors.
When he was alone, however, he felt depressed
by the extravagance and futility accompanying
those preparations. The whole house was topsy-
turvy with the great number of guests, the per-
formance, and the entertainment of the young
people. He wrote in his diary at that time :
am ashamed of all these expenses in the
midst of poverty."
The painter Gay, more and more carried away
by Tolstoy's conception of Christianity, sought
to express it in pictures. The first of these was
"Christ and Pilate," with the motto, "What
is truth ? " In this picture, very highly appre-
ciated by Tolstoy, the idea was expressed that
Pilate's words " What is truth ? " were not a
question directly addressed to Christ, but an
ironical observation of Pilate's implying that it is not
worth while to speak the truth as Christ preached
it. Indeed, looking at the figure of the well-fed
Roman patrician, and then on that of Christ,
exhausted by a whole night of torture, his feverish,
brilliant eyes full of thought, it becomes clear that
for Christ truth is everything, for Pilate nothing.
So Tolstoy's days were passed. But the dark
years of threatening famine were approaching to
call forth his practical activity.
*
'
CHAPTER XIV
THE YEARS OF FAMINE
*
In the summer of 1891 a complete failure of the
spring, as well as the winter, corn was experi-
enced throughout nearly half the area of Russia.
Towards the end of the summer alarming rumours
of a coming famine had already begun to spread.
As he had done eighteen years earlier, Tolstoy
took the initiative in giving assistance to the
starving peasantry. In the autumn he visited
many districts of the Tula province, and with
anxiety observed the empty cornfields of the
peasants. It was evident to him that the popula-
tion would be unable to feed itself till the next
harvest without outside help. Hostile to any
complicated artificial . system, Tolstoy decided to
begin at once to help personally, without any
organised plan for the future.
In the beginning of November, he, two of his
daughters, and a niece, and having only £50 with
them, went to the estate of a friend, J. Raevsky,
in the Ryazan province, and there established
124
THE YEARS OF FAMINE 125
themselves with the purpose, as he wrote, " to
x
do what God orders — to feed, and distribute
whatever there is." The place was one of the
worst in the famine region. After a week he
wrote :
" Everybody is busy at some good work
soup kitchens for the poorest. The girls have
opened a school, and they try to help everybody
in all ways. I am delighted with them. The
time is critical ; the conditions are strained and
dangerous."
Thus modestly Tolstoy started to give assist-
ance with his family, but rumours about his work
soon spread. Besides the material aid, he pub-
lished an article, " How to Help the Starving
Population," in which he showed the inefficiency
of the Government's method of distributing flour
■
and grain among the poor. He set out the needs
of the situation in the following way :
" Help to the starving population can be two-
fold : first by the upkeep of the peasants' home-
steads ; second, by saving them from the danger
of illness and even death by the lack, or bad
quality, of food."
He drew the following conclusions as to the
best means of satisfying these two needs :
"In order to prevent the partial or total ruin
126
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
of the peasants' homes, I believe there is only one
remedy — to start public
"For the second purpose — to save the starv-
ing from illness caused by the lack, or bad quality,
of food — there is
9
in my opinion,
one effectual
means
: the creation in each village of a soup
kitchen where each hungry person can be fed."
This dual purpose kept Tolstoy active. His
work in connection with the famine soon began to
be known, not only in Russia, but also in foreign
countries. His wife wrote an appeal for help,
pointing out that Tolstoy was already living and
working among the starving peasants. Donations
began to come in, and the means at the disposal
of Tolstoy rapidly increased, and, consequently,
enlarged his work. Towards the end of 1891 he
had started as many as 72 soup kitchens, and placed
them under numerous helpers of both
In
the following April he reported 187 soup kitchens,
246 in July, and the number of persons fed as
13,000. Besides this, he organised 124 " children's
homes," where 3,000 small children were fed with
milk porridge. Firewood, as well as food, was
distributed, and fodder for the cattle and horses.
Flax and bark were given out to make work for
the peasants, and in the spring various seeds,
such as oats, potatoes, hemp, and millet. Horses
-
The Death-Mask of Tolstoy
'
)
THE YEARS OF FAMINE 127
were bought and distributed among such peasants
as bad lost theirs. Bread was baked, and sold at
a low price. In addition, incidental help was
given in repairing and building peasants' huts,
assistance in burials, gifts of books, etc. All these
tasks were carried out under the direct supervision
of Tolstoy in four districts of the two neighbour-
ing provinces, Ryazan and Tula.
Tolstoy's example was soon followed, and in all
the famine provinces numerous organisations were
formed. In the Samara province, in two districts,
Tolstoy's son Leo was engaged in the same work,
for which part of the donations received by his
father was sent to him. The following winter
1892-3 — was no less severe, and aid to the
people was continued ; but this time Tolstoy him-
self was not present, and the work was carried
on with less energy. He published reports period-
ically, and they were highly instructive docu-
ments.
During his activity as organiser, he occupied
himself with a literary work of some magnitude
" The Kingdom of God Is Within You ; or, Chris-
tianity Not as a Mystical Teaching, but as a New
Conception of Life." In this work, as in " What
is My Faith ? " published ten years before,
Tolstoy, with great power, develops his concep-
i28 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
tion of Christianity, sharply criticises contem-
porary pagan ethics, shows the crying contra-
diction in which people are living who do not
believe in Christ, and in conclusion indicates the
way out of the difficulty.
As usual, the book was prohibited by the
censor, and was circulated by hand-written, litho-
graph and hectograph copies, or in foreign edi-
tions. Soon it was translated into most of the
European languages. Amongst other matters,
Tolstoy deals in the work with the contemporary
State and its organisation, which he severely
condemns. For his condemnation of the State he
was called an Anarchist, and, with a few reserva-
tions, this may be admitted as just. But his
anarchism, which denies the enforced organisa-
tion of power, is based on the understanding that
man, spiritually regenerated and imbued with
Christian teaching, has in himself the unalterable
divine law of truth and love, which has no need
to be strengthened by human laws. Consequently
Tolstoy's anarchism does not lead to disorder
and licence, but to the highest moral order and
perfect life.
This important work was followed by some
smaller ones, such as " Christianity and Pat-
riotism," in which, from a Christian point of view,
THE YEARS OF FAMINE 129
he considers the tragi-comedy of the Franco-
Russian Alliance. This he followed up by " Non-
activity," which he wrote a propos of Zola's and
Dumas' letters, the former of whom preached work
without giving any conception of life or the aim
of work, and the latter the necessity for a religious
conception of the ideals of brotherhood and love
amongst all men. Tolstoy points out that work
itself cannot be an aim — that it is only an obliga-
tory, unavoidable condition of life. If man has
no true conception of the meaning of life, does
not know where to go and what to do, it would be
better for him to be in a state of non-activity and
to think over his life and find its meaning ; then,
whatever work he undertakes will become pro-
ductive and sacred.
At the same time Tolstoy was translating
Guy de Maupassant, Bernardin de St. Pierre,
Amiel, Mazzini, and other authors, for the publica-
tions of the Posrednik. In 1895 " Master and
Servant ' ' appeared, in which, in an original way,
but in a truly Christian spirit, the question of
the relation between masters and men is solved.
I
In order to help and to save his worker, the
master must sacrifice his own life ; the worker
spends his whole existence for his master, and
consequently justice and equality can only be
j
130
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
restored if the master be willing to give his life
for his man.
In the same year Tolstoy took part in a
great historical event : the breaking out with
new force of the Dukhobor movement in the
Caucasus.
CHAPTER XV
THE DUKHOBOR MOVEMENT
During the night of July 10th, 1895, at three
different places in Trans-Caucasia, the Dukhobors
piled up their arms, poured oil upon them, and
then burned them amid the singing of psalms.
When we Tolstoyan3 learned the motives of this
remarkable act, we were struck by the spiritual
affinity between us and the leaders of the Duk-
hobor movement. This affinity led the authorities,
as well as independent investigators, to ascribe the
Dukhobor movement to the propagation amongst
them of Tolstoy's ideas. In reality, the Dukhobor
movement was much more complicated. The
Dukhobor teaching had existed for over a century,
and its main principles — condemnation of violence,
of taking life, and of all church ritual — came very
near to Tolstoy's conception of Christianity. The
positive side of their teaching — productive com-
munities, brotherhood, and solidarity — is certainly
very similar to that of Tolstoy. Therefore the
Dukhobor leaders, although but slightly acquainted
131
i32 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
with his works, were delighted, and recognised in
him a great spiritual authority. Certainly, by this
affinity and his genius, Tolstoy, even against his
will, became a leader of the movement. In sym-
pathy with their true Christian conduct, their
humble, patient endurance of hardships and tor-
tures at the hands of the military authorities, their
gentle answers to their persecutors, their habit of
mutual aid, Tolstoy tried in every way to assist
them — morally and materially. He used his influ-
ence in high quarters ; he urged his friends to do
the same, and to give personal help to these poor
sufferers when expelled from their homes and dis-
tributed among the villages of the non-Russian
mountain population. He forwarded to them
donations which he had received on their behalf,
and his letters to them were in the most touching
and kindly terms. When the condition of the
exiled Dukhobors began to be very critical, some
of their friends addressed an appeal to the Russian
public in order to put an end to the terrible perse-
cution by the Government. Tolstoy joined in the ap-
peal, and wrote a strong and powerful afterword to
it. The signatories to the document, as well as
some of those who had helped the Dukhobors, were
exiled to the Baltic provinces, and others were
banished to foreign countries. The weight of the
THE DUKHOBOR MOVEMENT i33
whole organisation of assistance and protection then
fell upon Tolstoy's shoulders. At last the per-
mission of the Government was obtained for the
Dukhobors to emigrate. They began their pre-
parations, but, ruined as they were, and dispersed
in exile, they had no means to make a start or
to charter a steamer to carry them to Canada,
where the authorities had promised them land,
large sum of money was needed, and to collect it
*
in Eussia was extremely difficult. Then Tolstoy
came to the rescue. He put the finishing touches
to a novel begun long before, and offered it to the
well-known publisher, Marx, on condition that all
author's fees should be devoted to Dukhobor
emigration. In response to an appeal to the
English Quakers for help, and to other friends of
the Dukhobors, further funds were collected,
and the emigration took place. In this way
■
Tolstoy's magnanimous aid to the Dukhobors gave
the whole intellectual world the moral benefit of
his great novel, " Resurrection."
It is not necessary to dwell on the contents of
this well-known work, but only to point out that
the fall and regeneration of a human soul are
depicted in it with the deepest insight and utmost
veracity. Throughout the novel the State, the
Church, and the existing social order are criticised,
134
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
as well as human relations.
to this critical
side the novel was never published in full in Russia.
The complete text was brought out in England by
Tchertkoff who, owing to the Dukhobor move-
ment, was banished from Russia. He started
The Free Age Press " publications in England,
and for eight years issued all the first editions of
Tolstoy's work of that period.
The connection between Tolstoy and the Duk-
hobors was maintained, and they regularly informed
him as to the condition of their life in their com-
munities.
The Dukhobor movement had a world-wide
importance, and Tolstoy's participation in it raised
it yet higher in public estimation. News of it was
published in all civilised countries, and the example
of Christian self-denial found imitators in France,
England, Holland, Germany,
and
Switzerland,
where more or less numerous groups were formed
with the aim of realising in life the true teachings
of Jesus. In many countries military service was
refused, in spite of severe punishment. Commu-
nities were organised and agricultural colonies were
started ; a series of periodicals was published
devoted to the investigation of Christian questions ;
and the vegetarian movement also increased.
At that time Tolstoy wrote quite a number of
THE DUKHOBOR MOVEMENT 135
articles, of which mention shall be made only of the
more important. The first to be noted was an
essay, " What is Art ? " in which he severely
examined contemporary art, and gave the basis for
a new Christian art, accessible to the people, sin-
cere, serious in subject, and, if possible, perfect in
technique. He allowed " The Free Age Press " to
t
publish his unfinished "Christian Teaching."
Another ' series dealt with contemporary problems
of Russian and foreign life.
*
/
CHAPTER XVI
EXCOMMUNICATION AND ILLNESS
Towards the end of the century, Tolstoy's influ-
ence was universally recognised. In Russia, people
of all classes — especially those whose consciences
were awakened and who were dissatisfied with the
existing ways of living — began to pay deep atten-
tion to his words, and addressed themselves to
him for help and encouragement in their initial
efforts.
In order to paralyse Tolstoy's influence, the
Russian State Church decided to take measures
against him. On March 5th, 1901, the Holy Synod
issued a ukase excommunicating Tolstoy from the
Greek Orthodox Church on account of his false
doctrines and un-repentance. This involved de-
privation of the protection of the Church, its
prayers, and burial in conformity with Orthodox
rites.
The excommunication provoked quite unex-
pected results. On the day of the promulgation
of the ukase in Moscow, serious disorders took place
136
EXCOMMUNICATION AND ILLNESS 137
amongst the students, who were joined by the
workers. Excited crowds paraded the main streets
and squares. Tolstoy had gone for his usual daily
walk and, crossing the square near the Kremlin,
he was recognised by the crowd, surrounded,
acclaimed, and treated with the greatest mani-
festations of respect and sympathy. With diffi-
culty he succeeded in freeing himself and driving
home. There, already, deputations were awaiting
him, and greetings and manifestations continued
the whole day. Flowers, presents, and expressions
of sympathy poured in from all sides and, as
Tolstoy himself said, he was feted as if it were his
birthday. These tokens of feeling grew as the news
of the ukase gradually spread to more distant parts
of the country.
. ■
To the ukase Tolstoy replied by a short but
powerful exposition of his conception of Christianity.
In this document he made the remarkable state-
ment that not only did he not wish to consider
himself a member of the Greek Orthodox Church,
but he also even hesitated to call himself a
Christian, as this term might obscure truth, dear
■
to him above all. From truth, he said, no existing
power could excommunicate him.
It was soon after this epoch-marking incident
in his life that Tolstoy fell dangerously ill. When he
138 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
began to recover, his family decided that he should
spend the winter in the south, and on the doctor's
advice the whole family removed, in September,
1901, to the Crimea, and settled at Gaspra, in the
villa which Countess Panin had kindly put at
Tolstoy's disposal. At every halting-place on the
journey, especially at KharkorT, crowds of people
enthusiastically greeted the venerable teacher.
At the beginning of his stay in the Crimea,
under the influence of the mild and warm climate,
he began to recover rapidly. But later he fell ill
with typhus and inflammation of the lungs. These
illnesses weakened him terribly, and there were
times when his family expected a fatal end ; but
Tolstoy's strong constitution asserted itself, and he
was soon able to resume his work.
During his convalescence he wrote an article
in the form of a letter, " To the Tsar and his Asso-
ciates," in which he described the wretched con-
dition of the Russian people, and suggested a series
of reforms which were partially initiated by the
Manifesto of November 1st, 1905. He wrote also
a number of addresses to people of different pro-
fessions, working people, clergy, politicians, soldiers,
officers, and another letter to the Tsar. In all
these appeals he tried to show the right way of
living, according to Christ's teaching.
EXCOMMUNICATION AND ILLNESS 139
During his long illness, when he felt himself
near the portals of eternity, hours of quiet thought
raised and purified his soul. In a letter to the
present biographer he wrote :
" I must say one thing : my illness was a great
help to me. Much that was foolish left me when I
placed myself sincerely face to face with God, or
the All of which I am but a transient particle,
saw much evil in myself, which formerly I did not
observe. I felt much relieved afterwards. Gener-
ally one should say to one's beloved, * I do not wish
you health, but illness.' "
In the autumn of 1902 he returned to Yasnaya
Polyana, where he speedily recovered his health and
former energy.
On the outbreak of the Eusso -Japanese war,
he shared the general grief and moral suffering of
the best part of the Eussian people, and with
indignation in his heart he issued his severe
"Bethink Yourselves." But life follows its own
unknown laws, and we submit to accomplished
facts. The Japanese war came to an end, but the
physical and moral tension which it had provoked
broke loose in a popular agitation.
True to his conviction that the principal object
for man is the understanding of the aim of life,
Tolstoy continued his work and published a col-
;
i4o THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
lection of thoughts and aphorisms of the great
thinkers of the world. In this collection were
brought together for the first time in the Russian
language the ideas of the leading thinkers of
humanity : Christ, Socrates, Rousseau, Pascal,
■
Buddha, Lao-tsze, and many others.
The wave of social and political agitation grew
apace, and caught in its vortex ever larger and
larger masses of the people. At last came the fatal
January 21st, 1905, with Gapon's demonstration
and its sanguinary suppression. All Russia was
shaken by the volleys in the streets of St. Peters-
burg. The whole nation was aroused ; new political
parties sprang up ; strikes took place, as well as
armed risings, expropriations, agrarian disorders,
and brigandage. The Imperial Manifesto of Nov-
ember 1st was followed by pogroms, the first Duma,
then the Vyborg appeal, and afterwards deporta-
tions, imprisonment, exceptional laws, and execu-
tions.
It was difficult at that time to find one's bear-
ings, and to avoid j oining one or other of the strug-
gling parties. But Tolstoy was true to himself.
He had to bear reproaches, threats, and abuse from
all sides, and people carried away by politics
temporarily fell away from him, as he could not
share their opinions or those of any political party.
s
O
H
09
o
C0
EXCOMMUNICATION AND ILLNESS 141
Pure and hard as a crystal, he wrote to all those
people at strife and enmity among themselves,
■
gently reproaching them, and pointing out the only
way of salvation — submission to the will of the
Father of Life, and an existence based on reason
and love.
t
CHAPTER XVII
THE JUBILEE OF 1908
Tolstoy's fame was now spread all over the
civilised world. Telegrams from America asked
his opinion on the Eussian political movement.
Connections were established with Australia, India,
Japan, China, and the Mohammedan world. All
these varied nationalities, with different languages,
customs, and religions, recognised in him a teacher
of mankind. In answer, as it were, to this general
recognition, Tolstoy began a work which undoubt-
edly will lay the foundation of a universal religion.
He enlarged his collection of thoughts and aphor-
isms of wise men, and instead of a few quotations
for each day he gave systematic tracts on all the
fundamental questions of religion, wisdom, and
morality, and entitled the work "
Cycle of
Heading," for which he wrote some new tales and
*
finished former ones, such as " The Divine and the
Human,
)*
CC
Berries,
5>
<C
Prayer,"
cc
Why?
?
5)
a
etc.
Korney Vasilyef,"
Immediately after the issue of the first edition,
142
THE JUBILEE OF 1908 143
Tolstoy began to revise the book, simplifying,
explaining, and rearranging tlie order of the
thoughts of the sages of mankind. Simultaneously
he wrote a number of articles, and in one of the
longest he dethroned Shakespeare. In another
he explained for children the teaching of the New
Testament, and with fresh energy he wrote on
Single Tax, and a new essay, " The Law of
Violence and the Law of Love."
The endless executions of late years were at
this time weighing on the Russian people like a
nightmare. Tolstoy could no longer witness the
suffering, and his bitter cry of protest, " I Cannot
be Silent," resounded through the world.
So Tolstoy reached his fourscore years. The
Russian nation was preparing to celebrate the
anniversary of the birth of their beloved " Grand
Old Man," but the day of rejoicing was darkened
by the attitude of the Government. Long before
the date, articles in the reactionary Press appeared
denouncing the honouring of a wicked heretic.
Fanatic priests delivered grossly insulting sermons,
profaning the very walls of the churches by their
vulgar abuse. The Government sent circulars to
the local authorities prohibiting the celebration
of Tolstoy's anniversary as that of a teacher of
morality. Permission alone was given to speak of
144 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
him as a literary man. In many places the author-
ities understood the circular in the sense that it was
preferable not to speak at all, and in some towns
on the day of the jubilee not a single word on
Tolstoy was spoken publicly.
Nevertheless, public feeling could not be quite
suppressed. Many Eussian and even foreign papers
contained on the day articles about Tolstoy,
reminiscences, portraits, and sketches. Yasnaya
Polyana was overwhelmed with congratulations,
gifts, and deputations. The telegrams alone num-
bered over two thousand. All over Russia, where
it was possible, and in many places abroad, soirees,
meetings, theatrical representations, were held in
honour of Tolstoy. It was clear that the whole of
enlightened Russia was unanimous in the expression
of admiration for the venerated old man who for
so many years had been the conscience of humanity.
In St. Petersburg a committee had been formed
for Tolstoy's jubilee. But Tolstoy had expressed
the wish that the day should be as quiet as possible,
and the committee transformed itself into a society
for the foundation of a Tolstoy Museum. This
society, in the spring of 1 909, organised an interest-
ing Tolstoy exhibition, consisting of original manu-
scripts and letters, pictures, busts, illustrations,
post-cards, and caricatures, all the great author's
■
THE JUBILEE OF 1908
145
published works, from the first to the last, in the
Russian and European languages, a quantity of
Russian and foreign literature on Tolstoy, and a
collection of photographic portraits. So large a
number of photographs as was here exhibited can
never have been taken of any other man of note.
At this exhibition it was decided that the pro-
posed Tolstoy Museum should contain the greater
part of the collections then on view, so that they
might be always accessible to the public.
An incident which occurred when Tolstoy passed
through Moscow towards the end of 1909 reveals
the enormous growth of his popularity. The local
papers stated that at one o'clock p.m. he would take
the train at the Kursk station for Yasnaya Polyana .
By noon a large crowd of people had gathered,
who enthusiastically greeted the beloved guest of
Moscow, but rarely seen of late in that town.
>
K
CHAPTER XVIII
>
TOLSTOYS FLIGHT AND DEATH
The principal work of the last years of Tolstoy's
life was the re-editing of " A Cycle of Reading " ;
he wished to present with greater lucidity the
treasure of the world's thoughts collected by him
during many years. Modest in appreciation of his
own work, to this " Cycle of Reading " he gave a
great importance.
" All my chatterings," he said, with his habitual
severity to himself, " will be forgotten, but this
work will survive."
And it is the opinion of many of us that in it
he has laid the foundation of the universal religion
of which he dreamt in his youth.
Simultaneously with this strenuous intellectual
labour, and while carrying on a voluminous corre-
spondence, a process of spiritual illumination was
incessantly taking place within Tolstoy. His kind-
ness, goodwill, and affability towards his innumer-
able visitors, his modesty and austerity regarding
himself, reached, in the last year of his life,
146
TOLSTOY'S FLIGHT AND DEATH 147
highest degree. This ennobling moral evolution
rendered him more and more sensitive to his sur-
roundings, which were in such contrast with his
moral conceptions.
This contrast he had felt acutely from the
moment of his first spiritual awakening at the end
of the seventies. Even then he had begun to think
of the necessity of changing his surroundings, or
of leaving them altogether. The latter always
seemed to him so easy and attractive that he did
not trust the impulse, deeming it a highly selfish
act to procure peace and freedom for himself at the
expense of his family's grief and suffering. There-
fore he kept this solution of the problem in abey-
ance until such time as he might become con-
vinced that all the means he employed for the first
method of solution had failed. But this period of
suspense was often interrupted by painful scenes.
At first these were of rare occurrence, then more
frequent, until, in the last year of his life, they
became almost incessant ; and those for the sake
■
of whom he had sacrificed all that was most dear
rendered his life unbearable.
All who knew Tolstoy intimately are convinced
that the idea to leave his home had been ripening
in his mind for a long time. The proof of this is
contained in a recently published letter to his wife,
148 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
Countess Sophie, written inQ897, which, however,
he never sent to her. It bears the inscription, " To
be delivered after my death." This letter explains
so clearly and calmly the reasons for his departure
that it is necessary to quote it in full :
" Dear Sonya, — Already for a long time I have
been tortured by the contradiction existing between
my life and my religious convictions. I could not
oblige you to change your life — the habits to which
myself accustomed you — neither could I leave
you till now, lest I should deprive the children whilst
they were young of such small influence as I had on
them, and grieve you. But I cannot continue living
as I have lived these sixteen years, sometimes
quarrelling with and irritating you, sometimes sub-
mitting to the comfort to which I am accustomed
and with which I am surrounded ; and now I have
decided to carry out that which for a long time
have wished to do — to go away ; firstly, because
with my advancing years this life grows more and
more trying, and I long for isolation ; secondly,
because the children are grown up, my influence
at home is no longer necessary, and you all have
more absorbing interests^ which will make my
r* absence unnoticeable. put especially, like the
' v ,
Hindus who at the age of sixty retire to the forests
9
TOLSTOY'S FLIGHT AND DEATH 149
like every religious old man desires to devote the
last years of his life to God, and not to jokes, games,
gossip, or tennis, so I, reaching my seventieth
year, with all the strength of my soul am seeking
rest, isolation, and, if not absolute harmony, at
least not a crying contradiction of my life with my
convictions and conscience. If I carried out this
plan openly there would be entreaties, disapproval,
disputes, complaints, and I might be shaken and
not accomplish my end.
"So I pray you all forgive me if my act will
grieve you — especially you, Sonya. Consent with
good will to my going ; do not search for me ; do
not complain ; and do not condemn me.
a
If I leave you, it is not a proof that I am
dissatisfied with you. I know that you could not
literally could not and cannot — see and feel as I
do, and consequently you could not and cannot
change your life and make sacrifices for that which
you cannot conceive. Therefore I do not blame
you, but on the contrary gratefully and lovingly
remember the thirty-five years of our life together
especially the first part, when you, with your inborn
mother's devotion, so energetically and steadfastly
followed what you considered your vocation. You
have given me and the world what you could give ;
you gave much motherly love and abnegation, and
/
150 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
that cannot be sufficiently appreciated. But during
the last period of our life — the last fifteen years
we have become estranged. I cannot think that I
am wrong, because I know that I changed not for
my own sake, not for that of others, but because I
could not do otherwise. And neither can I blame
you that you did not follow me ; on the contrary,
thank you, and with love remember and will
remember what you have given me.
a
Good-bye, dear Sonya.
i
r
t
a
Yours lovingly,
"Leo Tolstoy."
8
« " T .7 . I r>rM-r J>
20
July, 1897.
A similar letter Tolstoy wrote to his wife in July,
1910, enjoining her in the kindest, most touching,
and loving terms to put aside her anxieties, and
to be tranquil, adding that if she could not adopt
this peaceful way he had decided to leave home.
A week before carrying out his decision he spoke
in detail about it to his friend Michael Novikoff,
the peasant, to whom he said that he had firmly
made up his mind to leave his home in the near
future. On taking leave of him he added :
" We shall soon see each other again."
On November 6th he wrote to Novikoff :
" In connection with what I told you the other
TOLSTOY'S FLIGHT AND DEATH 151
day I have to make the following request:
really should come to you, could you not find for
me in your village a separate and warm hut, how-
ever small, so that I need not inconvenience you for
long ? One thing more : if it should be necessary
to send you a telegram I shall not sign it with my
a
name, but ' T. Nikolaef.' I shall await your
answer. Friendly handshake.
Do not forget that this must be between
ourselves."
On the morning of November 10th Tolstoy's
final decision was taken. He rose early, and
hurriedly made preparations for the journey.
First of all he wrote a letter to his wife :
" 4 o'clock. Morning of November 10, 1910.
" My departure grieves you. I am sorry, but
that I cannot act in another way, understand and
believe. My position at home is becoming, and
has become, unbearable. And, besides, I cannot
continue to live in the condition of luxury in which
I have lived, and I am going to do now what old
people of my age usually do — retire from worldly
life, in order to spend in peace and quietness the
remainder of their existence.
* c Please understand me and do not follow me,
even if you know where I am. Such a course would
152
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
make your and my position yet worse, but would
not change my resolution.
" I thank you for your forty-eight years honest
life with me, and beg you to pardon me all my
shortcomings, as I, from the depth of my soul,
pardon whatever may have appeared to me faulty
in you. I advise you to resign yourself to the new
condition created by my departure, and not to feel
any resentment against me. If you wish to com-
municate with me, tell Sasha ; she will know where
am and forward what is necessary. She cannot
tell you where I am, as I took her promise not to
■
divulge this to anyone.
<<
Leo Tolstoy.
" P.S. — I told Sasha to collect and send me my
manuscripts and things.
?>
Then he awoke his friend, Dr. Makovitski, and
his daughter Sasha, and with their assistance
packed, went to the stable, and ordered a carriage
to take him and the doctor to the station at
-
Schekino. He was trembling during the drive,
from fear of pursuit. At last he was in the train ;
the train started. There had been no pursuit, and
he calmed himself. Doubt as to the righteousness
of his decision he had none, but pity awoke in him
for his deserted wife. Towards evening the trav-
L
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Facsimile of Tolstoy's Will.
t
•
TOLSTOY'S FLIGHT AND DEATH i53
ellers reached the Optin Monastery, spent the night
there, and the following day continued the journey
twelve miles further to the Shamardin Convent.
Among the nuns there was Tolstoy's sister, Marie.
She received him lovingly, and he felt so satisfied
there that he intended to stay some time and even be-
gan to make inquiries for a hut in the nearest village.
But his health since his departure from home
had not been satisfactory, and it became neces-
sary to travel further. At first he had experienced
only a feeling of weakness, then drowsiness,
but soon after leaving Shamardin Convent he
felt cold and feverish. Once more the journey
had to be broken. The doctor and Sasha
decided to stop at Astapovo, a station on the
Ural-Ryazan railway. Tolstoy's intention had
been to travel south without any fixed plan,
hoping to come to a definite decision on the
way. The good-natured station-master, Ivan
Osolin, offered his apartments to Tolstoy, and his
little house has consequently become a place of
historic interest, and its fame is world-wide.
Leo Tolstoy's end was near, for inflammation
of the lungs set in. Gently and patiently bearing
the physical suffering, he quietly ebbed away. In
moments of consciousness and strength he con-
versed with those around him, was interested in
154
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
letters, sometimes joked, and sometimes, impressed
by the solemnity of the moment, uttered words of
deep wisdom. His diary, kept till four days before
his death, ends with the words :
u
Also my plan, fais ce que doit, adv
*
All
is for the best, for others, and especially for myself."
During the last days he more than once repeated :
<<
All is well
all is simple and well .
well
yes, yes
?>
His death was so calm and peaceful that it
actually had a tranquillising effect on those around
him. After successive hours of heavy respiration,
the breathing grew suddenly light and easy. A few
minutes later this light breathing also ceased. There
was an interval of absolute silence — no efforts, no
struggle. Then two scarcely audible, deep, long-
drawn sighs . . ,
On November 22nd the body was conveyed
to the Saseka railway station, where it was met
by a group of relations and near friends and a large
crowd — mostly peasants, students, and deputations
from Moscow.
The imposing simplicity of the funeral made a
touching and exalting impression. The chanting
of the " De Profundis " by the many thousands
following the rude coffin, which was borne by
* Faia ce que doit, odvienne que pourra.
TOLSTOY'S FLIGHT AND DEATH 155
peasants, heightened the impression. At the head
of the cortege were two peasants, bearing an impro-
vised banner of coarse linen, attached to two birch
poles, with the inscription :
The Memory op your Good Deeds will not
die amongst us.
The
Orphaned Peasants op Yasnaya Polyana.
The coffin was brought home to Yasnaya
Polyana, and placed in a room on the ground floor.
It was left open, and a vast number of people filed
past to gaze once again, and for the last time, on
the great teacher's beloved features.
To the singing of funeral hymns the body was
carried out by Tolstoy's sons. The assembled
people knelt as it passed. Through the garden,
through the wood, the coffin was carried, to the
small ravine at the edge of the wood where, near
the road, the grave had been prepared. On this
spot, according to Leo Tolstoy, his brother Nicolas
had buried the imaginary green wand on which
was inscribed the way to make men happy.
With contented, happy thoughts the great teacher
of life had passed into eternity, and beside that
symbol of universal happiness he had desired to
be buried.
156
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
When the body was lowered into the grave the
people again knelt and, in deep silence, thousands
of heads were bent in prayer. In the solemn
hush, the thud of the frozen earth thrown on the
lowered coffin was heard.
•
Soon the clods were heaped up over the grave
and covered with wreaths and flowers. Beneath
lay all the earthly remains of the beloved Grand
■
Old Man. But his spirit is alive and hovering
; he is present ; his words are sounding in
over us
our ears.
It is our duty to strive with all our
strength to realise his ideal of Love and Reason.
_/
'
. —
.
J
u
J3
G
c
O
U
C
G
O
U
H
■ -,, t . _ » j j'.
£..y
LIST OF TOLSTOY'S WORKS
Those works which are generally accepted as the
most important are printed in blacker type. The dates
show when the works were first published.
NOVELS
Childhood
Boyhood
Youth .
Sebastopol .
The Cossacks
War and Peace
Anna Karenin
The Kreutzer Sonata
Resurrection
Hadji Murat .
Father Sergius
1852
1854
1855-57
1854-55
1861
1 864-69
1873-76
1889
1899
Not yet published
Not yet published
PLAYS
The Power of Darkness (drama)
The Fruits of Enlightenment (comedy)
1886
1889
The Corpse (unfinished drama)
Not yet published
157
158
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
STORIES AND SKETCHES
A Morning of a Landowner
A Raid
The Cutting of the Forest
Notes of a Billiard Marker
Two Hussars
An Encounter
The Snowstorm
Lucerne .
Albert .
Three Deaths
Family Happiness
Polikushka
The Decembrists
The Prisoner of the Caucasus
The Death of Ivan Ilyitch
Holstomer
A Talk Among Idle People
Master and Servant
Singing in the Village .
Four Days in the Village
The False Coupon .
After the Ball
1852
1852
1855
1856
1856
1856
1856
1857
1857
1859
1859
1860
1863-68
1872
1886
1888
1892
1895
1909
1910
Not yet published
Not yet published
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
First Recollections
Confession
The Claim of Love (from his diary)
1878
1879
1899
LIST OF TOLSTOY'S WORKS
i59
EDUCATIONAL
1
The following were the chief articles among many
which Tolstoy published in his review Yasnaya Polyana :
A Project for a General Plan for Ele-
mentary Schools ....
On Popular Education ....
Education and Instruction .
Progress and the Definition of Instruction
1861-62
A Primer
On Popular Instruotion
A New Primer
1872
1874
1875
ETHICAL AND RELIGIOUS BOOKS AND ESSAYS
A Criticism of Dogmatic Theology
A Short Exposition of the Gospel .
The Four Gospels Unified and Translated
Church and State ....
What is My Faith ?
On Life
The Love of God and of One's Neighbour
Timothy Bondareff ....
Why Do Men Intoxicate Themselves ? .
On Non-Resistance ....
The First Step (on vegetarianism)
The Kingdom of God is Within You; or
Christianity not as a Mystical Teaching
but as a New Conception of Life
Non-Activity
1880
1881
1881
1882
1884
1887
1889
1890
1890
1890
1892
1893
1893
i6o
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
The Meaning of the Refusal of Military Service
Reason and Religion . .
Religion and Morality • . . .
Christianity and Patriotism.
Non-Resistance (a letter to Ernest H. Crosby)
How to Read the Gospels
The Deception by the Church
Christian Teaching
On Suicide
Thou Shalt Not Kill ....
Reply to the Holy Synod
The Only Way . . .
On Religious Toleration ....
What is Religion ? ....
To the Orthodox Clergy.
Thoughts of Wise Men (compilation) .
The Only Need
The Great Sin
A Cycle of Reading (compilation) .
Do Not Kill . . . . .
Love Each Other . .
An Appeal to Youth ....
The Law of Violence and the Law of Love
The Only Command ....
For EYery Day (compilation)
1893
1894
1894
1894
1896
1896
1896
1898
1900
1900
1901
1901
1901
1902
1903
1904
1905
1905
1906
1906
1906
1907
1908
1909
1909
ART AND LITERATURE
What is Art ?
Art and Not Art
1897
1897
LIST OF TOLSTOY'S WORKS
161
Shakespeare and the Drama .... 1906
Prefaces to :
A Translation of "Modern Science," by Edward Carpenter
Dr. Alice Stockham's "Toxology"
OrlofE's Albnm
Amiel
Free Translations of Stories by :
Gny de Maupassant
Bernardin de St. Pierre
SHORT RELIGIOUS AND DIDACTIC STORIES AND
TRACTS FOR THE PEOPLE
4
What People are Living By .
Where Love is, There is God
Two Old Men ....
A Fire Neglected Consumes the House
Nicolas Stick (Tsar Nicolas I.)
Does a Man Require Much Land ?
Ilias
The Godson .
The Three Hermits
The Candle .
The Repenting Sinner
The First DistiUer
Ivan the Fool
The Empty Drum
Walk in the Light While the Light is With You
Three Parables ......
L
1881
1885
1885
1885
1886
1886
1886
1886
1886
1886
1886
1886
1886
1887
1893
1894
l62
THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
Esarheddon .
Three Questions
The Restoration of Hell
Work, Death and Sickness
A Prayer
Berries ....
Korney Vasilyeff .
Why? ....
The Divine and the Human
A Letter on Science to a Peasant
1903
1903
1903
1903
1905
1905
1905
1906
1906
1909
by
Posrednik
Published
death :
False Beliefs
Life in Reality .
On Religion
The Soul .
Love .
The Sexual Instinct
God .
Sins, Temptation and
Excesses
The Similarity of Men
Pride
Effort
Wrath
Vanity
Parasitism .
False Science
after
Tolstoy's
Superstitions
s Souls
1911
fc
LIST OF TOLSTOY'S WORKS
163
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES
The Census of Moscow (in 1882)
Letter to M. A. Engelhardt .
What Then Must We Do? .
On Women . .
*
On Manual Labour
t
Mental Activity and Manual Labour
Culture's Feast (on the anniversary of the Moscow
University) ....
Letter to a Revolutionist
On the Famine (reports and letters)
Shame ! (against corporal punishment)
Patriotism and Peace
To the Liberals
To the Ministers .
The Approach of the End
A Letter to a Non-Commissioned Officer
I
On the Hague Peace Conference
Two Wars
Who Is to be Blamed ?
Carthago Delenda Est
The Slavery of our Times
4
Where is the Issue ?
Patriotism and Government
Is it Really Necessary %
To the Tsar and his Associates
; The Nearing End of the Age
Mementoes for Soldiers .
1882
1882
1886
1886
1887
1888
1889
1889
1891-93
1895
1896
1896
1896
1896
1897
1899
1899
1899
1899
1900
1900
1900
1900
1901
1901
1901
164 THE LIFE OF TOLSTOY
Mementoes for Officers
To the Working People
To Men of Politics
To Social Reformers .
Letter to Pietro Mazzini
Bethink Yourselves
In the Russian Revolution
wholesale executions)
The Inevitable Revolution
three days after his death by the St. Peters-
burg daily paper Rietch) .
1901
On the Working-Class Problem . . . 1902
Letters to the Tsar
1902
1902
1903
1903
1903
1904
1904
How to Emancipate the Working Classes . 1905
A Great Injustice (on the land problem) . 1905
On the Social Movement in Russia . . 1905
The End of the Age
An Appeal to the People ....
On Military Service .....
On the Meaning of the Russian Revolution . 1906
What Must be Done ?
An Appeal to the Government, the Revolutionists
and the People .....
1905
1906
1906
1906
1907
The Only Solution of the Land Question . 1907
I Cannot be Silent (a protest against the
1908
Concerning MolochnikofFs Arrest . . . 1908
The Annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina . 1908
1909
An Address to the Stockholm Peace Conference 1909
An Efficient Remedy (last article, published
1910
INDEX
Agricultural colonies of intellectual
| people formed, 112
Alexander II., Assassination of, 96
Alexander III., Tolstoy's letter to, 96
Amiel, Tolstoy's translation of, 129
Anna Karenin, 83
" Ante' Brotherhood, The," 14
Arsenef, Valerie, 40
Behrs, A. S., 82
Behrs, Sophie. (See Tolstoy, Countess)
Berries, 142
Bethink Yourselves, 139
Birthday, Celebrations of Tolstoy's
\ eightieth, 143
Bondaref, Timothy, 111
Boyhood, 19
Burial of Tolstoy, 155
Candle, The, 104
Capital punishment, Tolstoy's con*
demnation of, 42, 77
Censor and Tolstoy's works, The, 106,
109, 120
Census of 1882, The, 97
Childhood, 34
Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth, 11
Christian Teaching, 135
Christianity and Patriotism, 128
Confession, 42, 65, 90, 109
Cossacks, The, 27, 28, 33, 69
Crimean War, Outbreak of the, 35
Criticism of Dogmatic Theology, A , 94
Cycle of Reading, A, 142, 146
Death of Tolstoy, 154
Decembrists, The, 70
Departure from home, Tolstoy's, 147-
53
Deroulede, Paul, 115
Divine and the Human, The, 142
Dostoevsky, Feodor Mikhailovitch,
His criticism of Anna Karenin, 84
Dukhobors, Tolstoy and the, 131-5
Education and Instruction, 60
Education, Tolstoy and, 46, 51, 54,
55, 57-63, 65, 80
Excesses, Tolstoy's condemnation of
human, 120
Excommunication of Tolstoy, 136
Executions, Tolstoy and the Russian,
143
Fame, Tolstoy's world-wide, 142
Famine, Tolstoy's efforts to alleviate,
86, 124-7
" Fanfaron Hill," 11, 15
"Fet, A." (Afanasy Afanasievitch
Shenshin), 40, 46, 50, 55, 69, 71
Fire Neglected Consumes the House, A,
104
First Recollections, 11
First Step, The, 120
165
1 66
INDEX
Unified and
The, 94
Franco-Russian Alliance, Tolstoy's
criticism of the, 128
" Free Age Press, The," 134, 135
Frey, William, 114
Fruits of Enlightenment, The, 122
Gapon demonstration, The, 140
Gay, N., 116, 123
George, Henry, Tolstoy's sympathy
with, 78, 114, 143
God Sees the Truth, 104
Gorchakoff, Princess Pelagie, 5, 18
Herzbn, Alexander, 54
/ Cannot be Silent, 143
Illness, Tolstoy's last, 153
Ivan the Fool, 104
Kennan, George, 114
Khomyakoff, A., 48
Kingdom of God is Within You, The,
127
Korney Vasilyef, 142
Kreutzer Sonata, The, 121
Land, The nationalisation of, 78, 114,
143
Law of Violence and the Law of Love,
The, 143
Makovitski, Dr., 152
Markoff, Eugene, 61
Massarik, Professor, 115
Master and Servant, 129
"Mauer, Carl." (See Ressel, Theo-
dore)
Maupassant, Guy de, Tolstoy's trans-
lation of, 129
Mazzini, Tolstoy's translation of, 129
Mediator, Tolstoy a, 55
Mikhailovsky, N. K., 81
Military duties, Movement to refuse
113
Morning of a Landowner, A, 24
Moscow Literary Society. The. 48
•
Nekrasoff, N., 34
New Primer, A, 81
Nobility, Anger of, against Tolstoy,
55
Non-activity, 129
Novikoff, Michael, 150
On Life, 117-20
Peter the Great, Tolstoy's criticism
of, 82
Photographic portraits of Tolstoy, 145
Police search of Yasnaya Polyana, 64
Polikushha 9 69
Popular Instruction, On, 58
Popular tales, circulation of Tolstoy's,
103
Portraits of Tolstoy, 116, 146
Posrednik, The, 101, 103, 115, 129
Poverty and riches, Tolstoy's views
on, 98-101
Power of Darkness, The, 106 j
Prayer, A, 142
Prisoner of the Caucasus, The, 104
Pushkin, Alexander, Tolstoy's appre-
ciation of, 83
Quakers' sympathy with Tolstoy, 113
Reading-books, Tolstoy publishes, 81
Repin, Eliah, 117
Ressel, Theodore, 12
Resurrection, 133
INDEX
Russo-Japanese War, Outbreak of the,
139
St. Pierre, Bernardin de, Tolstoy's
translation of, 129
Sebastopol, 38
Serfs, Emancipation of the, 54
ainst
121
Shakers' sympathy with Tolstoy, 113
Shakespeare, Tolstoy's article on, 143
Shibunin, Tolstoy's defence of, 76
■
Single tax system, The, 79, 114, 143
Sitin, T. D., 103
Sovremennik, The," 34, 39
Stary-Yurt, 27
Strakhoff, N., 81
Strannolubsky, A. N., 81
Sutaieff, 110
<<
Tchertkoff, V. G., 103, 109, 134
Temperance society organised by Tol-
stoy, 120
Thoughts of Wise Men, 139
Three Deaths, 48
Tolstoy, Count Eliah, 2
, Count Nicolas, 6, 7, 18
, Count Peter, 2
, Countess, 66, 147-52
, Dimitri, 14, 16
exhibition, The, 144
family, The, 1
, Leo, birth, 1 ; childhood, boy-
hood, and youth, 11-25 ; early
religious influences, 17 ; stu-
dent days at Kazan Univer-
sity, 20-4 ; his early philo-
sophy, 21 ; first literary work,
21 ; his irregular life in Mos-
cow, 24 ; journeys to the
Caucasus, 26 ; falls in love
167
with Zenaide Molostoff,
his regeneration, 31 ; joins
army
active
35 ; resigns his commission,
35, 38 ; at Sebastopol, 36-8 ;
first foreign tour, 40 ; attach-
ment to Valerie Arsenef , 40 ;
in Paris, 41 ; in Switzerland,
43-6 ; adventure with a bear.
ymnas
ural
Moscow
Soden
sick brother, Nicolas, 51 ;
takes Nicolas to Hyeres, 52 ;
second foreign tour, 54 ; ill-
mama
thrown
72;
the religious note sounds in his
literary work, 85 ; assists
starving population of the
Samara province, 86 ; the
spiritual crisis, 88-94 ; re-
moval to Moscow, 97 ; offers
his services to the Moscow
municipality for the census,
98 ; renunciation of luxuries,
99 ; his physical labours, 100,
105 ; begins to write tales for
the people, 102 ; accident in
the hay-field, resulting in ill-
ness, 105 ; spread of his influ-
ence, 109-117 ; his silver wed-
ding, 116; turns his atten-
tion to human excesses, 120 ;
labours in the famine area,
124-7 ; excommunicated by
the Holy Synod, 136; dan-
gerous illness, 137 ; removal
to the Crimea, 138 ; return
to Yasnaya Poly ana, 139 ;
i68
INDEX
r
eightieth birthday,
143;
ripening of the idea to leave
his home, 147 ; extreme
sensitiveness to his surround-
ings, 147 ; farewell letters to
his wife, 148-52 ; his depar-
ture, 152 ; sudden illness, 153 ;
his death, 154 ; buried at
Yasnaya Poly ana, 155
Tolstoy Museum, The, 144
Nicolas (Leo's brother), 13, 47,
50-3
Sasha, 152, 153
Sergius, 13, 16
Tolstoy's father. (See Tolstoy, Count
Nicolas)
mother. (See Volkonsky, Prin-
cess Marie)
To the Tsar and his Associates, 138
Translations of Tolstoy's works, 109,
128
Trubetskoy, Princess Catherine, 3
Truth, Tolstoy's search for, 65, 87-96
Turgenef, Ivan Sergeitch, 13, 39, 41,
50, 55
Two Old Men. 104
\
Urusoff, Prince Leonide, 109
Vegetarianism, 99, 120
Volkonsky family, The,
, Prince John, 3
, Prince Nicolas, 3
. Princess Marie. 1
1
109
War and Peace, 71, 73-6
What is Art ? 135
What is My Faith ? 94, 95,
What People are Living By, 104
What then Must we Do ? 98
Where Love is, There is God, 104
Why? 142
Why do Men Intoxicate Themselv
120
Wish is Stronger tlian Bondage, The,
Polyana, 1
searched by the police, 64
" Yasnaya Polyana, The/' 58, 61, 80
Yazykoff, S., 7
Yeremeevna, 11
Yergolsky, Tatiana, 11
Youth, 22
Yurodivy Gregory, 17
Yushkoff
18, 20
Zabulovsky, Alexis, 113
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